Balmoral Castle

We left Inverness this morning and headed to Balmoral Castle.  Balmoral Castle is a large estate house in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and a residence of the British royal family. Balmoral is private property and, unlike the monarch's official residences, is not the property of the Crown. The estate was originally purchased privately by Prince Albert, for Queen Victoria.  Construction on the castle started in 1853 and was completed in 1856.  The Estate is within the Cairngorms National Park and covers 50,000 acres.  The working estate includes forestry and farmland, as well as managed herds of deer, Highland cattle, and ponies.  The royal family employs approximately 50 full-time and 50–100 part-time staff to maintain the working estate.  The estimated worth of the estate is 140 million.

Queen Elizabeth died at Balmoral on September 8, 2022 at the age of 96. She was the first monarch to die at Balmoral.

This was a special day at the castle.  Charles III was getting coronated (crowned) as King of England today.







The River Dee



Currently we are staying in the Pine Trees Hotel in Pitlochry. 



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