MORE than 40,000 people visited Buckingham Palace in the first week of

its public opening. They spent #250,000 on souvenirs, an average of

#6.25 each. Demand proved so great that a second souvenir shop opened

yesterday. Most popular purchases were chocolates, china pill-boxes, and

mugs. After a slow start last Saturday, when just 4300 tickets were

sold, the number of visitors went up each day to 6600 yesterday. The

weekly total was 40,813, less than half the figure for London's top

attraction, Madame Tussauds, which pulled in 85,000.