Buckingham Palace recently confirmed Queen Elizabeth is soon to be on the move. After spending lockdown at Windsor Castle, she and Prince Philip are relocating to Balmoral for their annual summer holiday, though this year will undoubtedly be different than years past. The coronavirus pandemic, for example, has cancelled the annual Highland Games.
Yet as much as things change at Balmoral, the more they stay the same. Since it was purchased by Prince Albert for his wife, Queen Victoria, in 1852, the neo-Gothic castle has been passed down through successions of the royal family. And while Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castles belong to The Crown—aka the institution of the British monarchy—Balmoral is private property. The Windsors will have it regardless of whether they are in power, and there’s no obligation to use it for official or state functions.
As a result, it’s where the royals can really let their hair down. And while reports from Balmoral are few and far between, a choice few tidbits have come out into the open in its over-160-year history. Here, the most fascinating stories from Balmoral, the queen’s grand Scottish estate.
1. In 2003, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia paid Queen Elizabeth a visit at Balmoral. She asked the Saudi royal if he’d like a tour of the estate. Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, the British ambassador to the country at the time, recalled the following exchange in his memoir: “Prompted by his foreign minister the urbane Prince Saud, an initially hesitant Abdullah had agreed. The royal Land Rovers were drawn up in front of the castle. As instructed, the Crown Prince climbed into the front seat of the front Land Rover, his interpreter in the seat behind,” he wrote. “To his surprise, the Queen climbed into the driving seat, turned the ignition, and drove off.”
Abdullah, it’s said, was shocked. After all, at the time in Saudi Arabia, women were not allowed to drive. It’s hard not to think this was a feminist move by the queen, who, in WWII, served as a mechanic and military truck driver.
2. As Prime Minister, Tony Blair visited the queen at Balmoral. He called his trips “a vivid combination of the intriguing, the surreal, and the utterly freaky.” In particular he remembers the drinks tasting like “rocket fuel” and a barbecue where Prince Philip served as grill master. “You think I’m joking, but I’m not. 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,” he wrote in his memoir.
3. Speaking of dishwashing gloves, they might have been a gift from another politician. In Elizabeth: The Woman and Queen, author Graham Turner says Margaret Thatcher gave the queen rubber gloves as a Christmas present after watching the queen wash dishes at Balmoral without a pair.
4. Rumor has it that the Balmoral ballroom has a bat problem. In the olden days, the queen allegedly tried to catch them with a net herself. Now, she has her staff help her while she shouts words of encouragement.
5. After the death of her husband, Prince Albert, in 1861, Queen Victoria became close with the Balmoral stable boy, John Brown. Gossip abounded, especially when they journeyed together to a small house on the expansive grounds. Did anything illicit happen? No one knows, and that’s why the whole relationship was the subject of the award-winning film, Mrs. Brown.
6. Princess Diana and Prince Charles spent part of their honeymoon at Balmoral. It, uh, doesn’t sound it like it went well: According to reports, Princess Diana got frustrated that her new husband was spending too much time painting and destroyed one of his watercolors.
7. During certain times of the year, the grounds of Balmoral are open to the public, which led to this chance encounter: while out walking, a tweed-clad Queen Elizabeth was stopped by a group of American tourists. They struck up a conversation with her, and it soon became clear they, well, had no idea who she was. “Have you ever met the queen?” They asked. “No,” she responded, and then pointed at her protection officer. “But he has.”
