EXCLUSIVE: The first summer at Balmoral without Queen Elizabeth will have been a testing time for the Royal Family, especially as she had such affection for her Scottish home
For almost a century, Balmoral Castle held a special place in the heart of Queen Elizabeth ll. From childhood, she would spend several weeks at the grand turreted property in Royal Deeside, surrounded by close family.
"Her absence will have been felt and I’m sure it’s been very poignant for them. No one will have been in those rooms since she died. It provided her with a rural bolthole where she could relax and live with some form of normality away from many – if not all – of the duties and demands of royal life in London.
As well as affording the monarch a chance to escape from the public gaze, its setting allowed her to indulge in many of her favourite outdoor pursuits, not least horse riding, deer stalking and fishing. "She said in the Elizabeth R documentary in 1992 that one of the joys about it was that she was able to sleep in the same bed for several weeks on end, instead of forever moving from one place to another.
The late Queen’s links to Balmoral, which was bought by her great-great grandfather Prince Albert for Queen Victoria in 1852, date from her childhood. It is also where, in the summer of 1946, Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark proposed to the 20-year-old Princess Elizabeth.In later years, the late Queen and Duke of Edinburgh hosted barbecues on the estate, with the Duke doing the cooking and the Queen taking charge of the washing-up.
This year more than any other, King Charles, Queen Camilla and their relatives will no doubt have spent a reflective first summer at Balmoral, with the lynchpin of the royal family notably absent.
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