Entertainment
King Charles Is Reviving Queen Elizabeth’s Royal Summer Tradition
The British monarch did things a little differently in 2023.
King Charles III has been settling into his role as the United Kingdom’s monarch, and it looks like he is set to resume a long-standing royal tradition upheld by his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, throughout her 70-year reign.
The late queen would enjoy three months of summer at the royal Balmoral estate in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, before returning to London in late September or early October. However, in 2023, Charles chose to spend much of his first summer as king in the English capital, before jetting off to France with his wife, Queen Camilla, in September for a state visit with stops in Paris and Bordeaux. This year, the British monarch will reportedly revive his mother’s summertime tradition, as he plans to spend more time vacationing in the Scottish Highlands.
On Aug. 3, Charles arrived in Scotland to attend the annual Mey Highlands Games. Held in the county of Caithness, the event aimed to celebrate the culture of the North Highlands, and was just the start of Charles’ Scottish summer getaway. The king has plans to stay at either the Castle of Mey, the Birkhall estate, or Balmoral until October, ahead of his and Camilla’s official royal tour of Australia and Samoa, according to the Daily Mail.
The monarch’s summer 2024 break comes after an especially busy couple of months on the royal calendar, during which time Charles visited the Welsh Parliament, the Royal Ascot, and ushered in new UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Charles Broke Tradition At Balmoral
The royal family previously announced that the historic Balmoral Castle would open its doors to the public in the summer of 2024, breaking hundreds of years of royal tradition.
“For the first time since the castle was completed in 1855, we have been granted permission to take you on a private tour with our experienced guides,” the official Balmoral site states. “You will learn about the origins of the Castle and how it has been loved by generations of the Royal family.”
Balmoral tours were previously restricted to the castle grounds, the estate gardens, and the ballroom, where Charles’ watercolor collection is on display.
Balmoral Castle was bought by Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, in 1852 for £32,000 ($40,500) — which equates to roughly £3.7 million ($4.7 million) today, per the Bank of England. The 167-room residence is reportedly worth an estimated £80 million ($101 million) as of 2023, and can be found within the 50,000-acre Balmoral estate, which includes 150 buildings in total. Balmoral has also been the site of major royal milestones. In 2022, Queen Elizabeth died there at the age of 96, after 70 years on the throne.
