King Charles took residence at Balmoral Castle today, where he is staying for the rest of the summer.
The late Queen Elizabeth II would normally spend the entire summer at the Aberdeenshire castle. It was even the location where she died in September 2022.
The late Queen would stay at Balmoral for the first few days of her annual summer holiday before the peak travel season ended.
The King was joined this weekend by Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York, both 63, which was significant as they were the first royals to do so.
Sarah travelled by herself to Aberdeen Airport and met the Duke of York at the 50,000-acre estate in Royal Deeside.
However, the ex-royal couple are not staying inside the £80million Scottish castle. Instead, they will likely be joined by their daughters Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie and their families in a different home on the Balmoral Estate.
The York family will stay in a seven-bedroom home called Craigowan Lodge on the Balmoral Estate, a favourite of the late Queen.
Located about a mile from the main Balmoral castle, Craigowan Lodge is a more rural stone home.
When King Charles and Princess Diana visited the Scottish countryside, they frequently chose to stay in the seven-bedroom home.
Since Prince Albert bought Balmoral in 1852 during Queen Victoria’s reign, Craigowan Lodge has been a royally owned private house.
The Highlands initially reminded Prince Albert of his home in Germany when the royal couple visited Edinburgh as newlyweds, and they believed it would be the ideal destination to bring their small family.
Today, the lodge houses high-profile visitors and occasionally members of the Royal Family. The main house is being used for the York family’s extended stay for the rest of this summer.
The Royal Family uses Craigowan Lodge, which is off-limits to visitors, for privacy as the main castle is still accessible to the general public.
The late Queen had many fond recollections of Craigowan Lodge. The lodge, which is situated on the outskirts of a forest, is reputed to be a tranquil getaway.
Speaking on the Channel 5 documentary Secrets of the Royal Palaces before the late Queen’s death, a former royal correspondent, Wesley Kerr, spoke about her love for the cottage.
Wesley said: “I don’t imagine that she’s doing the cooking or anything, but she and the Duke are able to be there as an ordinary married couple without the grandeur.
“I think the Queen sees the grandeur in these amazing houses as, sort of, part of the job. But the Queen, like anybody else, can only be in one room at a time. So one room in a small house is probably a rather nice change.”
