LONDON (AP) — When the hearse carrying Queen Elizabeth II’s body pulled out of the gates of Balmoral Castle on Sunday, it marked the monarch’s final departure from a personal sanctuary where she could shed the straitjacket of protocol and ceremony for a few weeks every year.
The sprawling estate in the Scottish Highlands west of Aberdeen was a place where Elizabeth rode her beloved horses, picnicked, and pushed her children around the grounds on tricycles and wagons, setting aside the formality of Buckingham Palace.
“When … she goes through those (Balmoral) gates, I believe the royal part of her stays mostly outside,’’ said the Rev. David Barr of Glenmuick Church in nearby Ballater. “And as she goes in, she was able to be a wife, a loving wife, a loving mum, a loving gran, and then later on a loving great gran — and aunty — and be normal.’’
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II (2R), Britain’s Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (2L) and their three children Prince Charles (R), Princess Anne (L) and Prince Andrew (3L) pose in the grounds of Balmoral Castle, near the village of Crathie in Aberdeenshire, September 9, 1960. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)Balmoral Castle is pictured near Ballater, on March 30, 2022, where the ‘Life at Balmoral’ exhibition is being shown, ahead of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. (Photo by Andrew Milligan / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW MILLIGAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and Britain’s Prince Charles, Prince of Wales plant a tree to mark the start of the official planting season for the Queen’s Green Canopy (QGC) at the Balmoral Cricket Pavilion, Balmoral Estate in Scotland on October 1, 2021. – The QGC is a UK-wide Platinum Jubilee initiative which will create a lasting legacy in tribute to the Queen’s 70 years of service to the nation, through a network of trees planted in her name. (Photo by Andrew Milligan / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW MILLIGAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND – SEPTEMBER 09: A Lion Rampant flag flies at half mast at Balmoral Castle on September 9, 2022 in Aberdeen, United Kingdom. Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor was born in Bruton Street, Mayfair, London on 21 April 1926. She married Prince Philip in 1947 and acceded the throne of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth on 6 February 1952 after the death of her Father, King George VI. Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on September 8, 2022, and is succeeded by her eldest son, King Charles III. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)Picture of Queen Elizabeth and Duke of Edinburgh (R) posing with theirs three sons, Charles, Edward (L), Andrew (2ndR) and the royal corgies for their 32nd wedding anniversary, in Balmoral Castle, Scotland, 20 November 1979. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)US artist Joseph Rossano poses for a photograph with his art installation entitles ‘The Salmon School’, displayed in the Castle Ballroom at Balmoral Castle near Ballater, on March 30, 2022, as part of the ‘Life at Balmoral’ exhibition, ahead of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. – RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – MANDATORY MENTION OF THE ARTIST UPON PUBLICATION – TO ILLUSTRATE THE EVENT AS SPECIFIED IN THE CAPTION (Photo by Andrew Milligan / POOL / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – MANDATORY MENTION OF THE ARTIST UPON PUBLICATION – TO ILLUSTRATE THE EVENT AS SPECIFIED IN THE CAPTION / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – MANDATORY MENTION OF THE ARTIST UPON PUBLICATION – TO ILLUSTRATE THE EVENT AS SPECIFIED IN THE CAPTION (Photo by ANDREW MILLIGAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)CHICHESTER, ENGLAND – AUGUST 23: Ned Curtis riding Balmoral Castle comes in to win the 50th Anniversary Stakes at Goodwood racecourse on August 23, 2014 in Chichester, England. (Photo by Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images)BALLATER, ABERDEENSHIRE – AUGUST 09: Queen Elizabeth II during an inspection of the Balaklava Company, 5 Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland at the gates at Balmoral, as she takes up summer residence at the castle, on August 9, 2021 in Ballater, Aberdeenshire. (Photo by Jane Barlow – WPA Pool/Getty Images)ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND – SEPTEMBER 20: A general view of Balmoral Castle as Queen Elizabeth holds a private audience on September 20, 2017 in Aberdeen Scotland. (Photo by Andrew Milligan – WPA Pool/Getty Images)Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh are pictured at Balmoral Castle in Scotland in 1977. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)BALLATER, UNITED KINGDOM – SEPTEMBER 07: A stream flows through the Queen’s Balmoral Estate on September 7, 2008 in Ballater, Scotland. The Balmoral Estate is in Aberdeenshire, Scotland and is the private residence of The Queen. Beloved by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, Balmoral Castle has remained a favourite residence for The Queen and her family during the summer holiday period in August and September. The Castle is located on the large Balmoral Estate, a working estate which aims to protect the environment while contributing to the local economy. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND – SEPTEMBER 20: Canadian Governor General Designate Julie Payette meets Queen Elizabeth during a private audience at Balmoral Castle on September 20, 2017 in Aberdeen Scotland. (Photo by Andrew Milligan – WPA Pool/Getty Images)BALMORAL, UNITED KINGDOM – AUGUST 07: Queen Elizabeth II attends a Garden Party at Balmoral Castle, on August 07, 2012 in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. (Photo by David Cheskin – WPA Pool/Getty Images)A tree is pictured prior to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and Britain’s Prince Charles, Prince of Wales planting the tree to mark the start of the official planting season for the Queen’s Green Canopy (QGC), at the Balmoral Cricket Pavilion, Balmoral Estate in Scotland on October 1, 2021. – The QGC is a UK-wide Platinum Jubilee initiative which will create a lasting legacy in tribute to the Queen’s 70 years of service to the nation, through a network of trees planted in her name. (Photo by Andrew Milligan / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW MILLIGAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)Assistant curator Sarah Hoare poses with a model of Balmoral Castle, started by the the late Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh in 1954, displayed in the Castle Ballroom at Balmoral Castle near Ballater, on March 30, 2022, as part of the ‘Life at Balmoral’ exhibition, ahead of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. (Photo by Andrew Milligan / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW MILLIGAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND – SEPTEMBER 06: Queen Elizabeth II waits in the Drawing Room before receiving newly elected leader of the Conservative party Liz Truss at Balmoral Castle for an audience where she will be invited to become Prime Minister and form a new government on September 6, 2022 in Aberdeen, Scotland. The Queen broke with the tradition of meeting the new prime minister and Buckingham Palace, after needing to remain at Balmoral Castle due to mobility issues. (Photo by Jane Barlow – WPA Pool/Getty Images)Assistant curator Sarah Hoare adjusts outfits worn by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II whilst staying at Balmoral, displayed in the Castle Ballroom at Balmoral Castle near Ballater, on March 30, 2022, as part of the ‘Life at Balmoral’ exhibition, ahead of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. (Photo by Andrew Milligan / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW MILLIGAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)The exterior of the Castle Ballroom is pictured at Balmoral Castle near Ballater, on March 30, 2022, where the ‘Life at Balmoral’ exhibition is being shown, ahead of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. (Photo by Andrew Milligan / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW MILLIGAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)Pallbearers carry the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped with the Royal Standard of Scotland, as it arrives at Holyroodhouse, where it will lie in rest for a day, in Edinburgh, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch and a rock of stability across much of a turbulent century, died Thursday Sept. 8, 2022, after 70 years on the throne. She was 96. (Alkis Konstantinidis/Pool Photo via AP)ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND – SEPTEMBER 09: Mourners at the gates of Balmoral Castle on September 9, 2022 in Aberdeen, United Kingdom. Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor was born in Bruton Street, Mayfair, London on 21 April 1926. She married Prince Philip in 1947 and acceded the throne of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth on 6 February 1952 after the death of her Father, King George VI. Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on September 8, 2022, and is succeeded by her eldest son, King Charles III. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND – SEPTEMBER 09: Members of the public gather at the gates of Balmoral Castle to lay floral tributes on September 9, 2022 in Aberdeen, United Kingdom. Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor was born in Bruton Street, Mayfair, London on 21 April 1926. She married Prince Philip in 1947 and acceded the throne of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth on 6 February 1952 after the death of her Father, King George VI. Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on September 8, 2022, and is succeeded by her eldest son, King Charles III. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
It was a transformation that took place every summer when the royal family would spend much of August and September at the estate that has been a royal bolt-hole since 1852 when Prince Albert bought it for his wife, Queen Victoria.
Balmoral is the family’s “private wilderness,” where a fleet of immaculate Land Rovers would pick up guests each morning during the shooting and stalking season, Jonathan Dimbleby wrote in his 1994 biography of Prince Charles, who became King Charles III upon his mother’s death.
But there were other attractions, too.
“In the stables, the Queen’s horses were again at the ready, coats groomed, saddles and bridles soaped and stirrups polished,’’ Dimbleby wrote. “The household servants, trained in discretion, appeared only when required, aware that to be seen or heard without a purpose would be to intrude.”
At Balmoral, a woman most remembered for being clad in robes and crowns or grandmotherly dresses and wide-brimmed hats could tie a scarf around her head, snuggle into a warm jacket and tug on a pair of boots to explore a domain covered with heather and pine forests and populated by deer, bees and butterflies.
That sense of informality could bring out the queen’s mischievous side.
A former royal protection officer, Richard Griffin, remembered accompanying the queen on a picnic when they met two American hikers. The tourists didn’t recognize Elizabeth and asked how long she had been visiting the area. When she replied “over 80 years,” they asked if she had ever met the queen.
“As quick as a flash, she says, ‘Well, I haven’t, but Dickie here meets her regularly,’” Griffin told Sky News earlier this year during events marking the monarch’s 70 years on the throne.
One of the hikers then turned to Griffin and asked what the queen was like. He replied: “She can be very cantankerous at times, but she’s got a lovely sense of humor.”
After posing for a picture with the queen, the unsuspecting hikers waved goodbye, and they continued their trek.
“And then Her Majesty said to me, ‘I’d love to be a fly on the wall when he shows those photographs to friends in America. Hopefully, someone tells him who I am,’” Griffin recalled.
The queen’s love of Balmoral underscored the royal family’s close links to Scotland, which began with her great, great-grandmother Queen Victoria, who began the royal tradition of wearing the tartan.
During the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence, the queen was said to be hoping for a “no” vote, though she couldn’t express her view publicly. Former Prime Minister David Cameron later confirmed this, telling how her husband, the late Prince Philip, sought to keep the peace at Balmoral by trying to hide the morning papers on the day a poll was published suggesting the Scots might vote in favor of leaving the U.K.
“But, of course, when she got the result, he said that she purred like a cat with satisfaction when she heard her United Kingdom was going to remain united,” royal historian Robert Lacey told the BBC on Friday.
But at its heart, Balmoral was a family home for the queen.
Freed temporarily from the affairs of state, Elizabeth and Philip spent more time with their children while at Balmoral.
Home movies shared with the BBC for a documentary on the queen’s 90th birthday showed the couple playing with Charles and his sister, Anne, on the lawn outside Balmoral Castle, with Philip careening down a grassy slope on a little red wagon before toppling over, his kilt flying in the breeze.
In later years, Charles played ping-pong and football in the yard and was even allowed to cycle to the village shop by himself, albeit with a police officer trailing behind, Dimbleby wrote.
It’s “very significant” that the queen died in Scotland, Lacey told The Associated Press.
“Because apart from her love of that particular country, it was the countryside, the way it brought her into contact with nature,” he said.
