King Charles makes big announcement about royal home
The King is making his own stamp on the monarchy – including opening up more of the royal residences.
Following the success of last year's tours of Balmoral Castle, Charles is once again permitting visitors to take a look around the beautiful interior of his Highland home this summer.
In June and July, guests can explore the history of the Scottish castle, including the rooms that are used by the royal family today – with tickets already selling fast after bookings opened on Tuesday.
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The interior castle tour tickets cost £110 per person, and for £170 per person, guests can enjoy Afternoon Tea fit for a royal – with savoury and sweet treats including Balmoral Estate venison sausage rolls, Cucumber, cream cheese and black truffle sandwiches, Passion fruit bavarois and chocolate salted caramel canelé.
The grounds of the castle will be open from Tuesday 1 April until Sunday 10 August before the King and Queen arrive to take up their summer residence.
In a post on Balmoral Castle's Instagram page, it stated: "Visitors will have the chance to discover the exciting changes HM The King has made to the gardens, including the Thistle maze, the Celtic maze garden, and new plantings of trees, shrubs, and topiary."
It marks the second year running that the King has made the decision to open up Balmoral to the public. Visitors had previously only been able to visit the ballroom and the grounds of the castle, which was completed in 1855 and bought by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Unsurprisingly, tickets for the tours last year sold out within 24 hours.
Balmoral was said to be the late Queen Elizabeth II's favourite royal residence, with her granddaughter Princess Eugenie once saying: "I think Granny is the most happy there, I think she really, really loves the Highlands... Walks, picnics, dogs - a lot of dogs, there's always dogs! And people coming in and out all the time. Family-wise we're all there, so it's a lovely base for Granny and Grandpa to be - for us to come and see them up there, where you just have room to breathe and run."
The late Queen died at the castle aged 96 on 8 September 2022, but Charles has carried on the tradition of hosting the royals in Scotland in August for their summer break.
The King and Queen are currently staying at Sandringham in Norfolk, where they celebrated Christmas.
While the late Queen typically remained at her Norfolk estate throughout the festive period until February to mark the anniversary of her father King George VI's death, Charles and Camilla spent time in Scotland last January.
