Balmoral opens private rooms to visitors for the first time

But tickets will cost £100

Author: Joe OdberPublished 3rd Apr 2024
Last updated 3rd Apr 2024

Visitors will get the chance to see parts of Balmoral Castle used by the royal family for the first time this summer.

Guided tours will be available in July, before the King and Queen arrive for their summer break in Aberdeenshire, with each group restricted to 10 people.

Tickets for the "castle interior tour", priced £100 or £150 with afternoon tea included, are limited to 40 tickets per day.

The Balmoral Castle website said the tours were the first since the castle was completed in 1855.

The website said: "They will take you on a historical journey through several of the beautiful rooms within Balmoral Castle.

"You will learn about the origins of the castle and how it has been loved by generations of the royal family.

"Travel through time from the purchase of the Balmoral by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, through to present day, where you can see how rooms within the castle are used today by their Majesty's The King and Queen and other members of the royal family."

Queen Elizabeth in Scotland

Holidays at Balmoral

Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip and Prince Charles react as they watch an event at the Braemar Highland Gathering, September 2017

Her Majesty's ships

Queen Elizabeth, as Lord High Admiral, inspects her crew of 'pirates' aboard HMS 'Dido' in the Firth of Clyde, 1965

Sombre duties

The Queen talks to American relatives after laying a wreath at the memorial for the victims of the Lockerbie disaster, 1993

Silver Jubilee

Queen Elizabeth greets crowds of wellwishers in Scotland , as part of her Silver Jubilee Tour, May 1977

Royal garden parties

The Queen at the 2017 Garden Party at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh

Musuem visits

Queen Elizabeth visits Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow following its £28 million refurbishment, 2006

Official openings

Queen Elizabeth attends the ceremonial opening of the Queensferry Crossing September 2017

Childhood visits to Scotland

Princess Elizabeth (left) and Princess Margaret arriving at Glamis with their mother, the Duchess of York, later Queen Elizabeth in August 1933

Commonwealth Games

Queen Elizabeth II reading a speech at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony, 23rd July 2014

Hospital visits

Stan Mitchell from Stonehaven and Senior Physiotherapist Fiona Armstrong chat to The Queen, who opened the Kincardine Community Hospital at Stonehaven 1998

Artwork and fashion on show

The tour also includes access to the ballroom with a collection of Charles' watercolour collection depicting scenery at Balmoral, Highgrove and Sandringham as well as a collection of outfits worn by Charles and Camilla, the late Queen and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.

Previous tours, which will continue, have concentrated on the grounds and gardens with access to the castle limited to the ballroom.

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