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When the first members of the public come through the doors of Balmoral at the start of July, they will get a glimpse of a world previously only open to the Royal Family, their staff, and their visitors.
They may also get a sense of why it has held such a special place in the heart of those who stayed there – particularly the late Queen Elizabeth II, who died there aged 96 in September 2022.
The much-loved Scottish castle in Aberdeenshire had been a backdrop to a lifetime of memories made through summers spent there with her beloved family, and it was said that the Queen had never been happier than when staying at the residence.
It was a place where she could be free to swap pomp and ceremony for wellies and a comfy cardigan, should the occasion call for it. Countryside walks, cinema nights and family barbecues all became part of the Queen’s life at Balmoral. She would call her time there ‘the big rest’.
The Queen’s Scottish communications secretary Louise Tait said after her death: ‘Balmoral is a castle – but it’s an intimate space’, describing it as a ‘home’ and somewhere Her Majesty felt ‘very, very happy’.
It has belonged to the British Royal Family since 1852 when the estate and its original castle were bought from the Farquharson family by Prince Albert. Since then, the royal country home has grown famous worldwide, having been featured in Netflix’s The Crown and is widely thought of as the monarch’s favourite castle after she spent many summer holidays there.
It was Queen Elizabeth’s personal property, inherited through her family, with her only other privately owned residence being Sandringham in Norfolk.
The first home at Balmoral was reportedly built in 1390, but the castle didn’t become the landmark we know today until 1956 when the Royal Family found it to be too small and commissioned the current Balmoral Castle.
Sadly, Prince Albert didn’t get to see his plans through, as he died before his property was completed. His wife, Queen Victoria, continued his work, adding several houses over the years. Following multiple renovations, the Aberdeenshire home now reportedly has 150 buildings in total and spans 50,000 acres.
According to Marion Crawford, who was a nanny to the young princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, the sisters were great fans of the family’s yearly break at Balmoral.
‘They looked forward to it all the year round,’ she wrote in her book, The Little Princesses. ‘It tended to be the chief landmark in their calendar. Things were apt to date from “before we went to Scotland” or “when we got back from Scotland,”
In fact, it was at Balmoral where a teenage Elizabeth first caught sight of her husband-to-be, Philip, and a place they returned to as part of their honeymoon in 1947.
Then, the pair spent time at Birkhall — a grand hunting lodge – which is now said to be Charles and Camilla’s ‘unique haven.’
Describing her post-wedded bliss there with her husband and beloved corgis in a letter to her mother, she wrote: ‘It’s heaven up here. Philip is reading full length on the sofa (he had a cold), Susan is stretched out before the fire, Rummy is fast asleep in his box by the fire, and I am busy writing this in one of the armchairs near the fire (you see how important the fire is!). ‘
As her own family grew, the Queen became a treasured resident of the Scottish Highlands each summer when she holidayed on her property.
Although the Castle is officially open to tourists until August, the monarch’s traditional summer break usually started in mid-July, where she would start her trip in a beautiful, rustic seven-bedroom stone house, Craigowan Lodge, before moving to the big house in August.
From then, the Queen would usually stay in Scotland until September, sometimes October, with fellow royals paying visits, as well as inviting Prime Ministers and their partners for short stays.
Sharing details of one PM visit on Channel 5’s Secrets of the Royal Kitchen, royal biographer Lady Colin Campbell recalled a time when former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was baffled to see Her Majesty washing up there with her bare hands.
‘Once, when Mrs Thatcher was up at Balmoral, she noticed that the Queen was doing the washing up without gloves. So, Mrs Thatcher went and bought her some rubber gloves and sent them to her, which is rather sweet.’
Hosting duties aside, Balmoral was a place for the Queen to embrace her role as mother and wife.
The family spent many summers walking in the Highlands, going on picnics or fishing. While at home, there would be cinema evenings and silly games.
As a scene captured fondly in a 1969 documentary, as well The Crown, Prince Philip could often be seen grilling sausages and lumps of meat over a barbeque, along with daughter Princess Anne, with their summer family barbecues becoming somewhat of a tradition during their trip.
Former royal chef Des Sweeny previously said that the Duke of Edinburgh would help choose the ingredients for their famous barbecues while the Queen would make the salad, with the family serving themselves in stark contrast to the rest of their meals.
In contrast to the picture-perfect scenery that surrounded the estate, from dramatic rolling hills to swathes of flowering heather, a 2013 documentary gave insight to the more homely side of the castle. Family photos, well-worn sofas, dog beds and electric fires, all gave a nod to the quieter life the Queen sometimes craved.
But Balmoral wasn’t a place where the Royals locked themselves away from the world.
Although typically somewhere for the monarch to enjoy some downtime, she was also known to attend official engagements throughout her stay, most famously Braemar Gathering, the Highland Games event held on the first Saturday in September.
The Queen, who was Chieftain of the Highland Games, was pictured year after year in the highest of spirits, laughing alongside her children as they watched the annual tug-of-war and sack race from armchairs, kept warm by blankets.
Royal fans also frequently caught a glimpse of the monarch and extended family members attending Sunday service at Crathie Kirk, a church just a 15-minute walk from the Queen’s estate.
One Deeside postie even shared the story of almost crashing head on into an old Landrover driving at speed across the estate – the driver, an elderly woman, was quick to apologise, he said, and even reversed backwards to let him pass.
Whether she was there or not, the walls of Balmoral Castle always held special memories for The Queen and her loved ones, memories that will live on long after her death.
The Monarch would explore the extensive grounds on horseback, or behind the wheel of her Range Rover, while husband Prince Phillip tended to the gardens. He worked tirelessly over the years to perfect their summer home, even breaking protocol at one point by manning a bulldozer himself.
Despite having a team of gardeners on hand, the Duke of Edinburgh helped to design and curate the grounds, including a vegetable patch adjoining Queen Mary’s flower garden.
Following his death in 2021, The Queen’s Instagram account shared a photo of the couple in the greenery back in 1972, adding that The Duke ‘worked with Estate workers, farmers and conservationists to maintain the Estates for future generations, through wildlife conservation and biodiversity initiatives.’
Indeed, it was Balmoral she turned to in her deepest sorrow, heading there to mourn her husband’s death in 2021.
This year, the Queen returned to her beloved Balmoral on July 21, and just this week, in front of a roaring fire, she appointed a new prime minister at the Scottish castle for the first time in her reign.
Now, our younger royals are growing up with equally fond memories of the castle, with Prince William and his wife Kate having visited Balmoral since their university days and along with their children in 2019, reportedly stayed in a three-bedroom cottage on the estate called Tam-na-Ghar while visiting.
Perhaps the most telling insight of the Queen’s love for her Scottish home, came from Princess Eugenie during the Our Queen At Ninety documentary, where she spoke about how she felt her Granny was ‘most happy there’.
‘I think she really, really loves the Highlands,’ the monarch’s granddaughter said.
‘Walks, picnics, dogs – a lot of dogs, there’s always dogs – and people coming in and out all the time. It’s a lovely base for Granny and Grandpa, for us to come and see them up there, where you just have room to breathe and run.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
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