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By CNN Royal Correspondent Max Foster, Billy Stockwell and Lauren Said-Moorhouse in London

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King Charles III is opening the doors of Balmoral Castle this summer for the most intimate tours ever permitted around the British royal family's much-loved private Scottish home.

The tours will run daily from July 4 to August 11 but a booking frenzy saw all the tickets - priced at £100 ($126) - snapped up by royal fans within 24 hours.

Situated on the bank of the Dee river in Scotland's Cairngorms National Park, the Balmoral estate has been the Scottish residence of the clan since 1852, when it was bought by Prince Albert for his wife, Queen Victoria.

Things got off to a rocky start for the couple. The original property was deemed too small for the royal family so another, more substantial, castle had to be built just 100 yards away. Since then, the 50,000-acre estate has provided comfort and privacy for the Windsors, particularly during times of crisis.

This summer, for the first time since the castle was completed in 1856, visitors will be given unprecedented access to parts of the royal retreat that have never been open to the public before. 

The move to open up the grounds appears to be part of a broader drive by the King to make royal residences more accessible. The East Wing of Buckingham Palace, which includes the famous central balcony where members of the royal family gather for public appearances, will also be open to the public this summer for the first time. Meanwhile, the grounds of other royal properties like Windsor, Sandringham, Holyroodhouse and Highgrove have routinely opened up for various events.  

Back at Balmoral, perhaps one of the tour's most impressive pit stops will be the castle's ballroom, which was where the late Queen Elizabeth II lay in rest before making the six-hour journey to Edinburgh in September 2022.  

An exhibition held in the ballroom will display a collection of the watercolor artworks by the King's own hand, depicting scenery at Balmoral and two other royal estates, Highgrove and Sandringham, as well as outfits worn by Charles, his late mother, his grandmother and his wife, Queen Camilla. 

During the hour-long tour, which is restricted to 10 people, visitors will be taken on a "historical journey" from the purchase of the estate in the 1850s to the present day, according to the estate's website. "You will see why Balmoral is such a special place," the website says.

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There's also the opportunity to celebrate the occasion with a serving of traditional afternoon tea at the onsite restaurant, for an extra £50 - around $63.

As well as the grouse shoots, picnics and muddy dog walks that keep members of the family entertained during the long summer days, the estate has also been a place of solace where the royals can enjoy time out of the limelight. 

It is where Prince William and Prince Harry were told the tragic news that their mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, had died. More recently, it is where Queen Elizabeth II spent her final days as England's longest reigning monarch. 

"I think granny is most happy there," Princess Eugenie told ITV in 2016. "It's a lovely base for granny and grandpa to be for us to come and see them."

But despite the privacy that Balmoral affords the family, it isn't the first time that the estate has been open to the public. Previous tours have allowed visitors to explore parts of the estate's grounds and gardens, but access has always been limited to just one room inside the castle itself. 

It is also a little known fact that you can book out five cottages found within the estate's walls. Some lucky guests have even bumped into the landlord during their stay. 

"That's exactly what happened to me this summer while taking an evening walk around the castle," former CNNer Jill O'Brien wrote in 2013. "Several loud barking corgis ran up to say hello. It took a minute to realize that the elderly woman walking the dogs was Queen Elizabeth II."

Charles and Camilla tend to travel to Balmoral in August for a late-summer break. The trip this year will no doubt provide some welcome respite for the couple following the King's cancer diagnosis and subsequent treatment. 

At the end of the tour, visitors can mark the occasion by purchasing some homemade preserves or Balmoral whisky from the Mews Gift Shop - or perhaps some tweed, which might last a lot longer. 

Meghan visits LA children's hospital. 

The Duchess of Sussex recently made a surprise visit to the Children's Hospital Los Angeles, where she joined a very special story time. The royal stop happened two weeks ago, on March 21, but was only revealed publicly earlier this week. Video and photos of the visit showed the mother-of-two at the LA medical facility where she met a group of youngsters before getting comfy and reading several books, including "Rosie Revere, Engineer," "Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons" and "They All Saw a Cat." During her time at the hospital -- part of its annual fundraiser, "Make March Matter" -- Meghan was seen laughing and sharing hugs with the kids, whom she also helped with activities connected to each book. Check out some snaps from the visit.

King Charles' Easter surprise. 

King Charles III has made his most significant outing since his cancer diagnosis in February, attending the traditional Easter Mattins church service in Windsor on Sunday. He appeared to be in good spirits as he arrived by car at St. George's Chapel, a 14th-century building in the grounds of Windsor Castle, around an hour's drive from London. He was accompanied by his wife, Queen Camilla, for the event -- a staple in the royal calendar. Typically, the extended royal family gathers for Easter at Windsor Castle before heading to church together. The royal couple waved delightedly to a crowd of well-wishers before making their way into the chapel through the Galilee Porch. Read our full story here.

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What the King's unexpected walkabout tells us.

The King's appearance was a reassurance exercise not only for the public but also for the family, who are ultimately there to support the monarch. It tells us that his medical team are comfortable with him taking on a bit more of his public-facing duties, addressing each engagement as it comes, depending on medical advice. That will have a knock-on effect on the rest of the family supporting him. For the King, it was clear there was joy at being able to interact with the public once more - something we understand he was frustrated he couldn't do while his treatment was getting underway. 
 
However, the next big challenge is already upon the family with the Friday release of the Netflix film "Scoop," which dramatizes Prince Andrew's disastrous interview with the BBC's "Newsnight" show in 2019. The sit-down came at a time when the royal was beset with questions about his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. But instead of putting a stop to the negative press, the prince was seen to be out-of-touch and unempathetic to the late financier's victims. The interview led to him stepping back from royal duties within the month. 

Many will remember the car-crash interview, but the new Netflix release will remind people of the controversy and offer the moment to a new audience. These are the criticisms of the royal family from which King Charles and Prince William have been trying to move away from and show that they are not representative of the family.

Review: 'Scoop' digs into the BBC's Prince Andrew interview, but it only goes so deep

Speaking of Netflix's new film... CNN's Brian Lowry has got the lowdown on whether it's worth a watch this weekend: 

"Scoop" juggles so many timely balls it's a bit of a shame the film doesn't accomplish that task with more dexterity. Part of that has to do with its somewhat limited origins, based as it is on a memoir by a BBC guest-booker, but the underlying issues surrounding traditional journalism competing with tabloids and how the press covers the UK's royal family lift the net result into the marginal-win column.

"The aforementioned booker is Sam McAlister -- played in this movie by Billie Piper -- who wrote the book "Scoops: Behind the Scenes of the BBC's Most Shocking Interview." That title references Prince Andrew's 2019 sit-down, in which he finally broke his silence about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein after Epstein's arrest for sex trafficking minors and subsequent suicide.

"The context of how that interview came together should theoretically make for juicy viewing, especially with a narrative that's privy to both the preparations within the palace -- where Andrew's public-relations liaison Amanda Thirsk (Keeley Hawes) must sweat out the details -- and the BBC, which, after a round of job cuts, might be hungrier to gain the attention that comes with a big "get."
 
Read the full review here. 

Courtesy Netflix

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The British monarch looked thrilled to be back out, albeit briefly, and interacting with the public last Sunday following the church service in Windsor. 

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Japan's imperial family, the oldest continuous monarchy in the world, has entered the comparatively new world of social media in an apparent drive to engage with younger generations. The family launched their @kunaicho_jp Instagram account earlier this week, quickly clocking up more than 700,000 followers in the past five days. Their first photo, taken to celebrate New Year's Day, shows Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako sitting on a sofa with their 22-year-old daughter, Princess Aiko. The family has taken much longer to join social media than other royal families around the world, such as the British royal family, who made their social media debut on Twitter, as it was at the time, 15 years ago. Whether the wait has been worth it has yet to be decided, with posts so far limited to official engagements and comments disabled.