His Majesty King Charles is believed to be spending some time at Balmoral Castle this summer, just as his late mother Queen Elizabeth II once did. But as well as the grand castle itself, a lesser-known lodge could be the location of choice for a family gathering…
In Prince Harry's tell-all memoir, Spare he details a previous summer, when he was a child, where the royals gathered at a secluded lodge called Inchnabobart – and he describes it beautifully.
He penned: "We came to the last wooden bridge, the tires making that soothing lullaby I always associated with Scotland. Da dong, da dong...da dong, da dong. Just below us, a burn seethed after recent heavy rain up top. The air was thick with midges. Through the trees, in the last moments of daylight, we could faintly make out huge stags peering at us. Now we arrived in a great clearing, an old stone hunting lodge to the right, the cold stream running down to the river through the wood on our left, and there she was. Inchnabobart!"
© AlamyHe continues: "We ran inside the lodge. The warm kitchen! The old fireplace! I fell onto the fender, with its worn red cushion, and inhaled the smell of that huge pyramid of silver birch firewood stacked beside it. If there’s a smell more intoxicating or inviting than silver birch, I don’t know what it could be. Grandpa, who’d set off half an hour before us, was already tending his grill at the back of the lodge."
© GettySo could King Charles be welcoming the family here very soon? The invite has likely been extended to Prince William and Princess Kate, as well as their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. Other royals who could make an appearance include Prince Edward, Duchess Sophie and their two children James, Viscount Severn and Lady Louise Windsor.
The castle itself stays open to the public until 16 August, so until then it is believe Charles will live elsewhere on site, again as his mother used to.
© GettyThe monarch already has his own residence on the estate, Birkhall, and has been described as "a unique haven of cosiness and character" by the King himself. is It is even where Charles and Camilla spent some of their honeymoon following their wedding in 2005.
Although this account of Balmoral is a positive one, it turns out Prince Harry has mixed emotions about the location.
The 38-year-old recalled the moment he was photographed playing strip billiards at hotel in Las Vegas in 2012, and his subsequent family trip away from the world's media.
He wrote:: "I fled to Scotland, met up with my family at Balmoral. It was August and they were all there. Yes, I thought, yes, the one thing missing from this Kafkaesque nightmare is Balmoral, with all its complicated memories and the pending anniversary of Mummy's death just days away."
