The Queen is claimed to by no means be happier than when she is staying on her beloved Balmoral property.
Balmoral Fortress – her non-public Scottish residence in Aberdeenshire – was handed all the way down to her by generations of royals after being purchased for Queen Victoria by Prince Albert in 1852.
Victoria described Balmoral as her “Heaven on Earth”, and it's the place she sought solace after Albert’s demise.
The turreted gray stone fort by the River Dee is surrounded by fir-clad hills, lochs and grouse moors.
The Queen’s conventional annual keep on the major property – after a break at Craigowan Lodge on the property in July – normally stretches by August and September and into October.
Princess Eugenie, the Queen’s granddaughter, as soon as described Balmoral as essentially the most lovely place on the planet.
“Walks, picnics, canine – loads of canine, there’s at all times canine – and other people coming out and in on a regular basis,” she mentioned.
Years of royal reminiscences have been cast at Balmoral, together with household barbecues – the place the late Duke of Edinburgh did the cooking and the Queen the washing-up.
Eugenie had added: “It’s a stunning base for Granny and Grandpa, for us to come back and see them up there; the place you simply have room to breathe and run.”
Every morning, a lone piper historically performs under the Queen’s bed room window.
Prime ministers and first ministers normally go to the monarch and keep for brief intervals, however the Queen has by no means earlier than in her lengthy reign appointed a PM at Balmoral, with Liz Truss the primary.
Former prime minister David Cameron as soon as mentioned there was not a lot “chillaxing” – chilling out and enjoyable – there, with the royals spending their time on out of doors pursuits.
At royal residences, servants meticulously unpack baggage for friends.
Cherie Blair revealed in her autobiography that her son Leo was conceived at Balmoral when she left her contraception at residence out of embarrassment throughout her annual weekend keep there with husband after which PM Tony Blair.
“In 1998 – I had been extraordinarily disconcerted to find that all the things of mine had been unpacked,” she wrote.
“Not solely my garments, however your complete contents of my distinctly historical rest room bag with its vary of unmentionables,” Mrs Blair added.
“This 12 months I had been a little bit extra circumspect, and had not packed my contraceptive gear out of sheer embarrassment.
“As traditional up there, it had been bitterly chilly, and what with one factor and one other…”
After Philip and Princess Elizabeth married in 1947, they spent a part of their honeymoon at Birkhall – a grand looking lodge on the Balmoral property since inherited by the Prince of Wales.
The Queen was staying along with her grandsons, William and Harry, at Balmoral when their mom Diana, Princess of Wales, died in a automotive crash in Paris in 1997.