Inside Queen Elizabeth’s favourite holiday home as King Charles plans Balmoral upgrade for ‘mass tourism’ boost
KING Charles has made plans to upgrade the late Queen Elizabeth’s favourite holiday home, Balmoral Castle, for a ‘mass tourism’ boost.
The stunning property welcomes the Royal Family each year, offering them a space to reunite and relax with each other.
Last year, the beloved Queen Elizabeth passed away peacefully at the castle on September 8, at the age of 96.
King Charles and Princess Anne were at the late monarch’s beside, while Prince Andrew, Prince William, Prince Edward and his wife Sophie Wessex all flew to Aberdeen by private jet just after 2.30pm.
Prince William drove his family into the estate but sadly the Queen had already passed.
Meanwhile, Prince Harry arrived at 8pm, after the heartbreaking news of the 96-year-old’s death was announced by the Palace to the public.
The iconic castle sees around 70,000 tourists visit the picturesque grounds situated in Deeside, Aberdeenshire – a figure thought to have spiked by the popular Netflix series The Crown.
Now it has been revealed that an application is lodged with Aberdeenshire Council to upgrade and extend The Piper’s Hall cafe.
This area is located in the Queen’s Building and an extension was requested to help meet demands from the “mass tourism market”.
A document submitted to the planning authority said: “With an increase in visitor numbers, the Visitor Enterprise team have identified the need to refresh and improve the visitor offering at Piper’s Hall.
“This application is for the refurbishment, alteration and extension of Queen’s Building.”
Created in the early 1980s, the Queen’s Building has required previous renovations to cope with the sheer amount of visitors.
An extra 60 seats, a sheltered terrace and a takeaway hub have all been added in the past.
Plans include cladding the current stone structure with fallen Scottish larch taken from the estate, and Caithness flagstone for paving and Welsh slate for the roof.
These choices were made with the goal to assimilate the “utilitarian” building in with the rest of the historical estate property.
To boost electricity supply, the plan is to add solar panels on the roof.
“The addition of the extensions and development of the takeaway kiosk is integral to the development of the visitor offering,” the statement continued.
“This will allow the catering operation to seat more people undercover, which is essential to add value to the customer experience.
“This also allows us to make better use of the internal space for a multitude of functions and still cope with the mass tourism market.”
The castle gardens were first opened to the public in 1931 and Balmoral Castle is open to the public every day from April to July – while no members of the Royal Family are there.
Opening times are from 10am till 5pm, with the last recommended admissions at 4pm.
The ballroom is the only room within the castle that may be viewed by the public, the rest are the Queen’s private rooms.
It is also possible to book a short stay at several of the guest cottages on the grounds.
As well as the main castle, there are 150 other buildings on the estate, including Birkhall, the estate of King Charles, Craigowan Lodge, and several other cottages.