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Balmoral, Queen Elizabeth's summer home, was always one of her favourite places

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BALMORAL, QUEEN ELIZABETH'S SUMMER HOME, WAS ALWAYS ONE OF HER FAVOURITE PLACES

By Rebecca Armitage
Posted 5h ago5 hours agoThu 8 Sep 2022 at 4:56pm, updated 2h ago2 hours agoThu 8
Sep 2022 at 8:05pm

Balmoral Castle in the Scottish highlands has been in the Royal family for
generations. (AP)
Help keep family & friends informed by sharing this article
abc.net.au/news/balmoral-has-long-been-the-queens-favourite/101421406
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It's said that Queen Elizabeth was never happier than when she was safely
ensconced at Balmoral Castle in the Scottish Highlands. 

The sprawling estate, which covers 20,000 hectares of moors, forests and
farmland, has been in the Royal family since it was purchased by the Queen's
great-great grandfather Prince Albert in 1852. 

The Windsors have long used Balmoral as their summer home, with the Queen
staying there almost every year of her life from August until October. 

It was a place where the Queen could run free as a girl, catching salmon,
stalking deer and attending local dances. 

Balmoral is also the place where her romance with a dashing British officer and
distant cousin started to blossom. 

After their marriage, it was a private retreat where their children and
grandchildren could join them for rowdy weekends. 

"I suppose Balmoral is a place one looks forward to very much," she said in
1992. 

"It is rather nice to hibernate when one leads such a movable life. To be able
to sleep in the same bed for six weeks, it is a nice change."


The Queen was often seen riding her horses around Balmoral. (AP: Steve Parsons,
pool)

Now her family has once again descended on their beloved retreat. 

But this time, they went to say goodbye. 

The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral at the age of 96 with her loved ones
nearby. 


LOVE BLOOMS ON THE MOORS

Even as a little girl, Elizabeth's annual trip to Balmoral was the highlight of
her year. 

Her life changed at the age of 10 when her father suddenly became king,
catapulting her to the top of the line of succession. 

LIVE BLOG: The world is paying its respects to Queen Elizabeth II. Follow along
with our live coverage.

As she prepared for her future, Balmoral was the one place she could be a normal
child. 

"They looked forward to it all year round. It tended to be the chief landmark in
their calendar," Marion Crawford wrote in her biography The Little Princesses. 

Her father brought his heir along with him on deer-stalking expeditions. 

"It was always fun to see a new stalker out for the first time with the Queen,"
her cousin Margaret Rhodes told biographer Sally Bedell Smith. 

"She would be crawling on her stomach with her nose up to the soles of the
stalker's boots, which would be a surprise to the stalker."

She met her future husband Prince Philip at a family wedding in 1934. 


The couple became engaged in 1946, but did not make a public announcement until
the following year. (Reuters: The Royal Collection)

But as a regular guest at Balmoral, the couple's love bloomed in the rugged
Scottish highlands. 

"The young people went out with the guns and picnicked together, but they were
very seldom alone," Marion Crawford said. 

"Occasionally he would take her out for a drive, and now and again they would
manage to get off into the gardens after tea." 

Prince Philip told his biographer Ingrid Steward that it was at Balmoral in 1946
where he and the Queen started discussing marriage. 

"I suppose one thing led to another. I suppose I began to think about it
seriously ... when I got back in '46 and went to Balmoral," Prince Philip said. 

"It was probably then ... that we began to think about it seriously, and even
talk about it."

The couple became engaged at Balmoral by the summer's end, though they delayed a
public announcement until she turned 21 the next year. 


A FAMILY HOME THAT CAN BE 'INTRIGUING, SURREAL, UTTERLY FREAKY' 

The grandeur of Balmoral is said to be slightly overwhelming for first-time
visitors. 

With turrets, 52 bedrooms, draughty corridors, tartan rugs and walls mounted
with antlers, it can be an intimidating place. 


The Queen, Philip and their four children at Balmoral Castle in Scotland in
1972.(Facebook: Queen Elizabeth)

Every morning, a lone piper played below the Queen's bedroom window.

"There is a certain fascination in keeping the place as Queen Victoria had it.
Nothing very much has changed," the Queen said. 

For decades, it has been practically mandatory for the British prime minister to
pop up to Balmoral for the weekend once a year. 

But not all of them have enjoyed it. 

Margaret Thatcher reportedly referred to the estate as "purgatory".

And John Major found the bagpipes played every morning to be endlessly
frustrating as he tried to make phone calls to other world leaders. 

Tony Blair has described his annual visits to Balmoral as "a vivid combination
of the intriguing, the surreal and the utterly freaky". 

But even with their regal surroundings, Mr Blair was slowly won over by the
Royal family's casual traditions at the estate. 

He said the Queen insisted her PMs join the family for parlour games, plied them
with strong drinks that tasted like "rocket fuel", and ordered Prince Philip to
man the barbecue. 

"You think I'm joking, but I'm not," he revealed in his memoir. 

"They put the gloves on and stick their hands in the sink. The Queen asks if
you've finished, she stacks the plates up and goes off to the sink."

Balmoral may be the one place that the Queen could truly  be herself in a
tightly controlled existence.

"I think Granny is most happy there. I think she really, really loves the
Highlands," said her granddaughter Princess Eugenie in 2012. 


The Queen and Prince Philip got engaged at Balmoral in 1946. (Photo:
Sophie, Countess of Wessex)

"Family-wise we're all there, so it's a lovely base for .... walks, picnics,
dogs — a lot of dogs, there's always dogs — and people coming in and out all the
time." 

Amid the grand furnishings of the castle was said to be an electric heater to
keep the monarch cosy, and a pillow cheekily embroidered with the words: "It's
good to be Queen". 


'AT BALMORAL, SHE HADN'T TAKEN IT IN' 

While it might be the site of some of the family's happiest memories, Balmoral
also looms large in one of their greatest tragedies. 

On August 31, 1997, the Queen was woken up in the early hours to be told that
Prince Charles's ex-wife Diana had been in a car accident. 

With William and Harry asleep down the hall, the Queen, Philip and Charles paced
the halls waiting for news.

At 4am, a palace aide came in to tell Charles that the mother of his children
had died. 


The family inspected flowers left outside Balmoral after Diana's death, but did
not return to London for five days. (Reuters)

The Queen acted quickly, ordering the televisions and radios to be removed from
the nursery and insisting the boys be allowed to sleep until daybreak before
being told. 


THE WEEK THE QUEEN LOST HER PEOPLE

The death of Princess Diana inspired an outpouring of public grief unlike any
other in Britain. It also heralded the most dangerous and tumultuous week of
Queen Elizabeth's reign.


Read more

And in a move that would briefly threaten her reign, she decided to stay at
Balmoral where she could protect her grandsons. 

As her subjects piled flowers up outside the gates of Buckingham Palace, many
became frustrated that the Queen was not returning to London to publicly mourn
with them. 

"Has the House of Windsor a heart?" asked the Daily Mail. The UK Express
demanded the family "Show us you care".

Five days after Diana's death, as polls showed the Queen's approval rating
starting to slip, the monarch finally came to London. 

Royal biographer Andrew Morton said she was shaken by the scale of her kingdom's
grief. 

"At Balmoral, she hadn't taken it in. You never know what it is like until you
are actually there," a senior aide explained to Morton.

For the Queen, the isolation of her Scottish retreat is its greatest draw. But
in a time of crisis, it briefly severed her connection to her subjects. 


'THERE ARE ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES'

Despite her declining health and the recent loss of her beloved husband, the
Queen could not be kept from Balmoral again this year. 

She left Windsor Castle in July for her annual trip north. 

While she usually keeps a busy calendar through summer, this year she cancelled
several public appearances. 


Liz Truss was sworn in as PM at Balmoral after the Queen was unable to travel to
London. (Reuters/Pool: Jane Barlow)

The new British Prime Minister Liz Truss — the Queen's 15th in her long reign
— made the trip to Balmoral to be sworn in this week as the monarch was not well
enough to return to London.

In photos released of their meeting, the Queen was dressed in her traditional
Balmoral uniform: A tartan skirt, cardigan and her ever-present black handbag.

Royal reporters say even with her mobility issues, the Queen was spotted in
recent weeks walking the grounds of the estate and even riding her horse.

"You can go out for miles and never see anybody," she once said of her favourite
place.

"There are endless possibilities."


The Queen and Philip spent almost every summer of their marriage together at
Balmoral. (Facebook: Queen Elizabeth)
Posted 5h ago5 hours agoThu 8 Sep 2022 at 4:56pm, updated 2h ago2 hours agoThu 8
Sep 2022 at 8:05pm
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1.


QUEEN ELIZABETH II DIES AT BALMORAL, AGED 96, AFTER MORE THAN 70 YEARS ON THE
THRONE, CHARLES BECOMES KING



2.
live


LIVE: KING CHARLES III TELLS OF 'GREATEST SADNESS' AT THE DEATH OF HIS
'MUCH-LOVED MOTHER'



3.


THIS WAS THE MOMENT THE CROWD OUTSIDE BUCKINGHAM PALACE LEARNED THE QUEEN HAD
DIED



4.


WHAT HAPPENS NOW CHARLES IS KING? WHEN IS THE QUEEN'S FUNERAL, AND WHERE WILL
SHE BE BURIED?



5.


THE QUEEN CARRIED ON WITH OFFICIAL DUTIES RIGHT UP UNTIL THE END



6.


PRINCE HARRY SEEN ARRIVING AT BALMORAL WITHOUT MEGHAN AFTER QUEEN'S DEATH





TOP STORIES


QUEEN ELIZABETH II DIES AT BALMORAL, AGED 96, AFTER MORE THAN 70 YEARS ON THE
THRONE, CHARLES BECOMES KING


live


KING CHARLES III TELLS OF 'GREATEST SADNESS' AT THE DEATH OF HIS 'MUCH-LOVED
MOTHER'




THIS WAS THE MOMENT THE CROWD OUTSIDE BUCKINGHAM PALACE LEARNED THE QUEEN HAD
DIED




THE LITTLE GIRL WHO WAS NEVER MEANT TO RULE BECAME THE LONGEST-REIGNING MONARCH




PRINCE HARRY SEEN ARRIVING AT BALMORAL WITHOUT MEGHAN AFTER QUEEN'S DEATH




THE QUEEN CARRIED ON WITH OFFICIAL DUTIES RIGHT UP UNTIL THE END




WHAT HAPPENS NOW CHARLES IS KING? WHEN IS THE QUEEN'S FUNERAL, AND WHERE WILL
SHE BE BURIED?




ANTHONY ALBANESE SUSPENDS PARLIAMENT, PAYS TRIBUTE TO QUEEN ELIZABETH II




ENGLAND-SOUTH AFRICA CRICKET TEST SUSPENDED AFTER QUEEN'S DEATH




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