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At first glance it could be any group of well-to-do friends enjoying a jolly dinner on holiday. A long, solid, varnished pine table, plain glasses, plastic pepper and salt pots, with plenty of candles to add atmosphere.
If the coffee flasks are anything to go by, proceedings are coming to an end in the wood-walled cabin. The host in a blue sweatshirt cradles two bottles of whisky, offering a wee dram to others round the table.
These never-before-seen pictures show the late Queen and Prince Philip at their most informal during a visit to Balmoral.
They have an added poignancy at the moment as King Charles and Queen Camilla head to Scotland next week for their summer break. It will be the first time in living memory that the Queen is absent from the gathering on Royal Deeside.
Few royal estates were as precious to Queen Elizabeth as Balmoral.
At first glance it could be any group of well-to-do friends enjoying a jolly dinner on holiday. A long, solid, varnished pine table, plain glasses, plastic pepper and salt pots, with plenty of candles to add atmosphere. These never-before-seen pictures show the late Queen and Prince Philip at their most informal during a visit to Balmoral
If the coffee flasks are anything to go by, proceedings are coming to an end in the wood-walled cabin. The host in a blue sweatshirt (pictured here is Prince Philip) cradles two bottles of whisky, offering a wee dram to others round the table
Whether she was riding her beloved fell ponies through the pine-scented Aberdeenshire highlands with a Tupperware container of sandwiches or mushroom-foraging and enjoying picnics, Her late Majesty’s annual sojourn offered a rare opportunity to shut off almost completely from the outside world.
Life there was as simple as it came for the monarch. Friends fondly remember Prince Philip — dubbed ‘master of the grill’ by his family — using the barbecue, and the Queen in charge of the salads, decanting the dressing into glass jars for practicality and donning a pair of rubber gloves to do the washing up.
Often it was just family eating in the log cabin at Glen Beg, which is decorated with inexpensive prints of local flora and fauna on the walls.
The Queen was apparently driven to distraction by Philip’s habit of encouraging their grandchildren to squeeze a tube of mustard in their hands and fire the contents at the ceiling. The marks can still be seen today.
But Elizabeth and Philip would also invite a small group of friends to join them for a few days with casual dinners such as this one in the cabin.
Guests would eat hearty local food, often caught or shot that day, from cheap plates and cutlery, washed down with beer, wine, tea and coffee.
This year, however, the Balmoral break will be different. For a start, King Charles and Queen Camilla will not be staying at Balmoral Castle itself, as the Queen always did.
I can reveal they will be basing themselves at Birkhall, their private home on the Balmoral estate.
Charles inherited it on the death of the Queen Mother in 2002 and has poured his heart and soul into the property, turning it into somewhere he and his wife can truly call home.
The couple spent much of the Covid pandemic here working, reading and walking, comforted by the soothing babble of the River Muick and entertained by the antics of the resident red squirrels, which cheekily wander inside the house in search of nuts secreted in the pockets of its laird.
‘It is such a special place,’ Charles says.
Sources tell me the King and Queen will happily ‘decamp’ to the main castle for official visits, such as that of the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the Scottish First Minister (although it has yet to be confirmed whether avowed republican Humza Yousaf will accept).
But Birkhall will serve as their main base until the early autumn, leaving Balmoral without a monarch physically in residence for the first time since the 19th century.
The castle will not remain empty, of course. All family members, I am told, are expected to stay at some point over the next few weeks.
That is, except the Duke and Duchess of Sussex whose ‘open invitation’ to join family gatherings hasn’t exactly been rescinded, but is certainly not expected to be accepted.
Relations between father and son, I understand, are still not good, although the family feel encouraged by claims that Harry and Meghan are now determined to focus on the future rather than family recriminations.
Whether she was riding her beloved fell ponies through the pine-scented Aberdeenshire highlands with a Tupperware container of sandwiches or mushroom-foraging and enjoying picnics, Her late Majesty’s annual sojourn offered a rare opportunity to shut off almost completely from the outside world
‘If true, that can only be a good thing and may offer a sliver of hope that at some point in the future personal relationships can be rebuilt,’ one source close to the family tells me. ‘It’s been a very visibly challenging year when it comes to the Sussexes.’
King Charles, I understand, is not thought to have read his son’s vitriolic memoir Spare yet, but is aware of its contents. ‘Why would he read something that he knows is going to be so hurtful?’ another friend asks.
Contact between Prince William and his brother is non-existent and there doesn’t seem to be a reconciliation in the offing any time soon. ‘You can read the room on that as to where things are [between them],’ says a source, making clear that as far as William is concerned the subject is very much off-limits.
‘It’s sad, but it is what is. This is a family as well as an institution,’ they added.
Among the extended Windsor clan who are due to stay at Balmoral this year, however, are the Prince and Princess of Wales with George, Charlotte and Louis; the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh and their teenage children, Louise and James; Princess Anne and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, along with her son Peter Phillips and daughter Zara Tindall, both with their broods; and Charles’s cousin, Lady Sarah Chatto.
The beleaguered Duke of York will also be spending time up there with his daughters, Princess Beatrice and Eugenie, and their young families.
There had been some question over whether Andrew might join the family gathering at all following the late Queen’s death. But I’m told the Duke’s presence there this year was never in doubt.
‘There are a large number of properties around the estate so not everyone needs to stay at Balmoral Castle itself,’ one insider remarks, adding tactfully that they don’t even have to bump into each other if they don’t want to.
Another source says more waspishly: ‘Andrew not go to Balmoral? Just try and stop him!’
In years gone by, the late Queen and Prince Philip famously loved to meet family members in the many bothies and picturesque wooden huts dotted over the estate for picnics after a morning walking or riding, along with the many dogs that congregate there with their owners at this time of year.
Indeed, it is hoped the late Queen’s corgis will return with their new owner, Prince Andrew, although whether they are likely to get on with Beth and Bluebell — Camilla’s two rescue Jack Russells — is anyone’s guess.
Sources assure me that Charles and Camilla are still keen to ensure those special family moments endure, although whether the new king will take charge of the barbecue remains to be seen.
‘Nothing can stay stuck in time forever, but Balmoral wouldn’t be the same without its barbecues,’ one local source tells me. ‘It’s one of the many things that will be the same, but different, with the new boss . . .’
This year, however, the Balmoral break will be different. For a start, King Charles and Queen Camilla will not be staying at Balmoral Castle itself, as the Queen always did. I can reveal they will be basing themselves at Birkhall (pictured here), their private home on the Balmoral estate
Their Majesties are also apparently keen to keep the famous Ghillies Ball, the traditional end-of-summer season celebration introduced by Queen Victoria to thank her loyal household, where tartan-clad senior royals can be found breathlessly dancing hand-in-hand with their staff. It’s the undoubted highlight of the year for those who are invited.
Queen Elizabeth adored the annual knees-up, though the ball was discontinued during the pandemic.
But Charles — who is no slouch on the dance floor, having learnt the famous Scottish reels since childhood — has already given the green light to this year’s event, I can reveal, much to the delight of castle staff.
With so much change afoot, debate is inevitably raging over the future of Balmoral which, as a private estate and therefore not in receipt of taxpayers’ money, is a huge drain on the King’s private finances.
There has even been talk that the castle could be turned into a permanent museum.
My sources say this is absolutely not the case. It’s true that there has been a long-standing ambition to open up the castle for a longer period each year to tourists to cover the cost of running the estate.
This year, for example, Balmoral will be open to the public until August 16, with extra money-spinning events such as a film evening and barbecue on the lawn.
Charles will spend the first week of August at the Castle of Mey in Caithness, the former home of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, before being joined at Birkhall by his wife.
But there are practical difficulties to admitting the public. Balmoral is a fairly ‘fragile’ building despite its solid appearance, with little in the way of public conveniences and it needs updating. As one source says: ‘You can’t just throw open the doors and say, ‘Come in chaps’.
‘Quite a lot of things have stayed the way they are because Her late Majesty was in the last years of her life and it was entirely right that she had peace, quiet, comfort and familiarity.
‘Between that and Covid, a lot of building projects have been put off. Ways are being looked at of increasing [public] access but those are still being sketched out.
‘People like the fact that the castle is an authentic royal residence that the family still use.’
The King, I am told, plans to base himself at Birkhall from early August until early October, coming and going as and when official duties dictate.
He will mark his first accession day on September 8 there, taking time to reflect on a gruelling first year in the job for him, aged 74, and his 76-year-old wife.
With so much change afoot, debate is inevitably raging over the future of Balmoral (pictured) which, as a private estate and therefore not in receipt of taxpayers’ money, is a huge drain on the King’s private finances. There has even been talk that the castle could be turned into a permanent museum
Despite decades of planning for the late Queen’s death, sources say it actually happened ‘so quickly’ that courtiers and royals were, inevitably, caught on the hop.
‘It really did,’ they insist. Only a day or two earlier, after all, we had that extraordinary and moving final photograph of Queen Elizabeth greeting then prime minister Liz Truss in her private apartments.
The result was that the monarchy had to ‘build the plane while flying it’, to borrow a palace colloquialism, ripping up existing diaries, long-planned foreign visits and domestic commitments, as well as merging two large, well-established households.
It’s been exhausting, say insiders, and lessons have been learnt on the way, but the general consensus is the institution has come through in a good place.
No doubt this Scottish summer will be laden with memories of the last for all those present, and with Queen Elizabeth’s passing it is clear that some things will never be the same again.
But after a challenging year it will also provide the chance for her family — well, at least most of them — to embrace old traditions, and hopefully create new memories of their very own. Not least over a convivial dinner at Glen Beg lodge.
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