Balmoral - The Queen's beloved Scottish summer holiday home
The place where Queen Elizabeth was said to be at her happiest
Last updated 9th Sep 2022
The Balmoral estate in Scotland, where Queen Elizabeth II died is also the place where she Queen spent her summer holidays, and she is said never to have been happier than when staying there.
Balmoral Castle was handed down to her through generations of royals after being bought for Queen Victoria by Prince Albert in 1852.
Scottish summer holidays
The Queen's traditional annual stay at the main property - after a break at Craigowan Lodge on the estate in July - usually stretches through August and September and into October.
This year she travelled to Balmoral on July 21 and remained at the estate to appoint a new prime minister there for the first time in her reign on Tuesday.
The 96-year-old monarch, who has faced ongoing mobility issues, traditionally holds audiences with outgoing and incoming premiers at Buckingham Palace but this year stayed in Scotland.
Outgoing prime minister Boris Johnson and his successor Liz Truss made the 1,000-mile round trip to Aberdeenshire for the key audiences this week.
It came after the Queen broke with convention earlier this summer when inspecting a guard of honour to officially mark taking up residence at her Scottish home.
Traditionally she inspects the guard of honour at the gates of Balmoral but this year she held the event privately within the estate's grounds for her "comfort", sources said.
A family home
Balmoral, like Sandringham, is a private residence of the Queen rather than a royal residence belonging to the Crown.
Princess Eugenie, the Queen's granddaughter, once described Balmoral as the most beautiful place on the planet.
"Walks, picnics, dogs - a lot of dogs, there's always dogs - and people coming in and out all the time," she said.
"It's a lovely base for Granny and Grandpa, for us to come and see them up there; where you just have room to breathe and run."
Barbecues and picnics
Years of royal memories have been forged at Balmoral, including family barbecues - where the Duke of Edinburgh did the cooking and the Queen the washing-up.
After Philip and Princess Elizabeth married in 1947, they spent part of their honeymoon at Birkhall - a grand hunting lodge on the Balmoral estate.
The Queen was staying with her grandsons William and Harry at Balmoral when their mother Diana, Princess of Wales died in a car crash in Paris in 1997.
The Queen 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