Queen Victoria's husband
Prince Albert bought Balmoral castle in1852 for £31,000.Victoria spent a great deal of
time there and loved the highlands, writing that Scotland 'was the proudest, finest
country in the world.' She continued to travel to Balmoral after
Albert's death in 1861, although some say that this was more because of her affection for
John Brown than her rheumatism.The
Balmoral Estate began as a home built by Sir
William Drummond in 1390. The
estate was formerly owned by King Robert
II (1371–1390), who had a hunting
lodge in the area. After Drummond, the estate was sold to Alexander
Gordon, the 3rd Earl of Huntly,
in the 15th century. The estate remained in the family's hands until it was
sold in 1662 to the Farquharsons
of Invery, who sold the estate in 1798 to the 2nd
Earl of Fife. The estate formed
part of the coronation activities
of King George IV in 1822. In
1856 the building was completed, it now being a full and working estate with
around 100 buildings surrounding the castle. The castle, not including its
land and estate, is valued at around £160 million and remains
privately owned by the British royal
family. Along with Sandringham
House, Balmoral is private property and not part of the
royal estate. This became an
issue in 1936, when Edward VIII
abdicated as king but did not
automatically relinquish the private property he had inherited.
George VI had to explicitly
purchase Balmoral and Sandringham from his older brother, so that they could
remain private retreats for the monarch. The Estate extends to just over
50,000 acres of heather clad hills, ancient Caledonian woodland, policies
and of course the beautiful River Dee is nearby. Over the past 150 years
careful stewardship by the owners, The Royal Family, has preserved the
wildlife, scenery and architecture which is available for all generations to
enjoy.
