Balmoral Castle: The Definitive Visitor’s Guide

What is Balmoral Castle? Short history

Apparently, the first house at Balmoral was built sometime in the late 14th century.

…Between then and the middle of the nineteenth century, nothing particularly exciting happened here (Well, as far as I know, anyway).

But, in 1842, things started to get interesting.

During that particular year, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert (That was the Queen of the United Kingdom at the time, and her husband) visited Scotland for the first time.

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Over the next few years, Victoria and Albert continued to visit Scotland…and one of the places they liked (although they had not yet seen the Balmoral estate itself) was Deeside (the area west of Aberdeen).

Queen Victoria thought, “Hey, I really like this whole area.”

So Prince Albert thought, “Great, I have a lot of money and power, so I’ll buy a house here for my wife.”

This house was a group of buildings on the Balmoral estate-And so, in 1852, the King and Queen bought the place without ever having seen it.

When they arrived, they agreed it was “small”, and made enormous changes and improvements to both the buildings and grounds. The old buildings were demolished, and the new buildings were completed in 1856. The royals chose William Smith (Aberdeen’s city architect) to do their designs.

…And from that moment on, Balmoral Castle, in the words of… Official websitebecame “Scottish home of the royal family.”

Members of the royal family have never lived here full time. But they used it as a home and a vacation retreat… to picnic here, walk in the countryside, and do whatever else royals do.

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Princess Diana and Prince Charles honeymooned at Balmoral Castle, which is also the place where Queen Elizabeth II died, in September 2022.

It is a huge place of 50,000 acres (20,000 hectares)… Its territory includes mountains, valleys, fields, lakes, gardens and forests. It is home to 150 buildings, including many small huts.

It is also a living property. Deer and grouse are hunted here, and forestry and agriculture are carried out on the land.