King Charles submits plans to turn part of Queen’s ‘favourite’ royal home into wedding venue
King Charles is set to give Queen Elizabeth II’s “favourite” Royal retreat a major makeover, with plans submitted to transform part of the Balmoral Estate into an exclusive wedding venue. Soon, members of the public could be saying ‘I do’ in the Queen’s Building, mere steps from the iconic castle itself.
Spanning a vast 50,000 acres, Balmoral is more than just a stately home; it’s a fully operational estate complete with grouse moors, forests, and farmland. Unlike England, Scotland’s laid-back approach to wedding locations means venues don’t require a licence, as the celebrant carries this instead.
The proposal, now with Aberdeenshire Council, seeks to repurpose the building for “weddings, dinners, meetings and other events”, promising that any music will be kept at a “low level” to avoid disturbances.
Continuing a long-standing Royal tradition, King Charles spends his summer breaks at Balmoral, which perches on the River Dee’s edge and boasts an impressive 52 bedrooms, alongside numerous reception rooms used by the monarch for official engagements.
Despite the grandeur of the main castle, King Charles and Queen Camilla favour residing at the neighbouring Birkhall estate, once a cherished residence of the Queen Mother. The late Queen was known to visit Balmoral Castle every summer for week-long holidays until her death.
Her stays would commence in late July at Craigowan Lodge before moving into the castle once it closed to visitors in August. The Balmoral grounds held a special place in the late Queen’s heart as Prince Philip proposed to her there in the summer of 1946, reports the Express.
