II. The Balmoral residence, where Elizabeth died on Thursday, is a private property of the royal family, where the monarch likes to spend her summers away from the crowds and gazing at this remote area of northern Scotland.
The residence was where the Queen’s last photo was taken on Tuesday, welcoming new Prime Minister Liz Truss.
In this rare photo inside the castle, II. Elizabeth, 96, is seen smiling but frail, leaning on a cane in a turquoise living room and in front of a marble fireplace.
On the other hand, Balmoral has numerous photographs of the royal family in their gardens or fields.
One of them shows a young queen kneeling on a tablecloth in front of the imposing castle in 1960, next to her husband Philip and their children.
In another, the Duke of Edinburgh is cooking meat on a barbecue.
II. Elizabeth can also be seen navigating the land on horseback, walking her dogs and even driving a Land Rover.
Former royal photographer Lord Lichfield told Town and Country magazine in 1972 in Balmoral that members of the royal family “act like normal people to a certain degree.”
“Lunch is always eaten outside and they go for a walk every day,” he explained.
Balmoral, Queen II. It was one of Elizabeth’s favorite residences.
The space has been family owned since Prince Albert bought it for Queen Victoria in 1852. The castle was completed four years later.
Time seems to have stopped there.
“While it remains largely the same as during Queen Victoria’s reign, successive royal owners have continued Prince Albert’s lead and brought improvements to the sphere of influence,” the castle’s official website says.
“Purgatory” for Thatcher
The residence is linked to family history.
In 1981, Prince Charles and Diana ended their honeymoon in Balmoral, where they posed for the press on a riverbank.
The Queen, her heir, and her two sons, William and Harry, were also in Balmoral. In late August 1997, the charismatic Princess of Wales died in a car accident in Paris pursued by the paparazzi.
While shocked citizens placed millions of flowers in front of Buckingham and Kensington Palace, Elizabeth and Charles barricaded in Balmoral with their two children and remained silent for several days.
The Queen was accused of ruthlessness in one of the most difficult moments of her reign.
Anecdotes abound at Balmoral. There, the family subjected the newcomers to a terrible “examination”.
Prime Ministers have come to spend their weekends. Conservative Margaret Thatcher arrived in inappropriate shoes and had to borrow some to follow the queen in her walk.
According to the Queen’s biographer, Ben Pimlott, the “Iron Lady” initially saw her Balmoral outings as a kind of “purgatory.”
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair described his weekends at the Scottish castle as “an engaging, surreal and downright creepy combination”.
In his autobiography, he describes the scene of the royal cleansing after one of the late Prince Philip’s barbecues.
“The Queen asks if you’re done, she stacks the plates and goes to the sink,” said the former labor leader.
What will happen to Balmoral under Charles III?
Until now, he has resided in his private residence in Birkhall, the same area. But that too can change.
source: Noticias
