King Charles' heartbreaking three words explaining why Balmoral was site of Queen's last days

Her Majesty the Queen chose to retreat to Balmoral to unrecorded retired the last days of her life, according to King Charles, who said she 'especially treasured' her clip there

The precocious Queen held a precise peculiar spot successful the bosom for Balmoral, truthful overmuch truthful that she 'chose' to unrecorded retired her last days astatine the Scottish estate.

Her eldest lad and heir King Charles spoke astir his beloved mother's passing during an code to people 25 years of Scottish Parliament successful September 2024. "Speaking from a idiosyncratic perspective, Scotland has ever had a uniquely peculiar spot successful the hearts of my household and myself," the King said, noting his "beloved grandma was proudly Scottish".

He past poignantly added: "My precocious parent particularly treasured the clip spent astatine Balmoral, and it was there, successful the astir beloved of places, wherever she chose to walk her last days." The Queen's emotion for Balmoral Castle successful Royal Deeside was good known, and it was wherever she spent galore summers - arsenic a tiny kid with her parents and sister Princess Margaret, and successful aboriginal beingness with Prince Philip and their ain children.

Prince Philip really projected to the Queen, past inactive a Princess, successful the summertime of 1946, wrong the grounds of Balmoral. And the royal mates adjacent spent portion of their honeymoon connected the property – successful the Birkhall hunting lodge, present owned by King Charles III – successful the wintertime of 1947, having joined earlier 2,000 guests astatine Westminster Abbey connected 20 November.

Having spent truthful galore blessed years astatine Balmoral with her family, the Queen retreated determination to live retired her last days, earlier passing distant peacefully successful her slumber connected 8 September 2022, aged 96. Princess Anne aboriginal revealed that her parent had shared her concerns implicit dying astatine Balmoral, feeling that it would beryllium "more difficult" logistically than if she died elsewhere. "We did effort and transportation her that that shouldn't beryllium portion of the decision-making process," the Princess Royal recalled successful a BBC documentary past year. "I anticipation she felt that that was close successful the end, due to the fact that I deliberation we did."

Balmoral has been 1 of the royal family's residences since 1852, erstwhile the property and its archetypal castle were bought by Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's husband. The existent Balmoral Castle was commissioned aft the location astatine the clip was deemed excessively small. It was backstage spot belonging to the Queen and not portion of the Crown Estate.

The precocious Queen would famously question to Balmoral each summertime and invitation her household members to travel and walk clip with her astatine the Scottish estate. It was wherever she was happiest, according to her granddaughter Princess Eugenie. "It's the astir beauteous spot connected earth. I deliberation Granny is the astir blessed there. I deliberation she really, truly loves the Highlands," Eugenie antecedently remarked. "Walks, picnics, dogs – a batch of dogs, there's ever dogs – and radical coming successful and retired each the time. It's a beauteous basal for Granny and Grandpa, for america to travel and spot them up there; wherever you conscionable person country to respire and run."