Queen Elizabeth was in Edinburgh, Scotland in late June for Holyrood Week. She was joined by the Earl and Countess of Wessex and Prince Charles for part of the week. She looked pretty spry, honestly. After Holyrood Week, the Queen apparently went to Sandringham for a short holiday, then she returned to Windsor Castle. But late last week, the Queen traveled to Balmoral for her annual summer vacation. It should be noted that the Queen was in Windsor during last week’s heat wave. She must have been miserable.
For the last few days, Queen Elizabeth has been valiantly surviving the historic heat wave overtaking Britain at Windsor Castle. On Tuesday, Britain’s hottest day on record, she connected with Jane Hartley, the newest ambassador from the U.S., for a virtual meeting. On Thursday morning, however, she was spotted in a police convoy finally leaving the castle for the slightly more temperate climate at her Balmoral Estate in Scotland.
The queen typically leaves for her summer estate during the last few weeks of July, and tends to stay through August. In March, the Sun reported that Craigowan Lodge, the seven-bedroom stone house about a mile from the castle, had been renovated with a wheelchair lift to accommodate her mobility issues and advanced security features, including a new fence and an upgraded CCTV system. An insider told the tabloid that she plans to spend more time there as she ages. “For many years we have thought it would be the perfect place for the Queen to spend more time when she’s older,” the source said. “It’s one of her favorite places in the country.”
The Queen actually tends to stay longer in Scotland than just “through August.” She’ll likely be there through September. Some have said that she plans to be in Scotland for ten weeks for her summer vacation. It’s incredibly interesting to me that rather than make accommodations at the big house in Balmoral for a Queen with mobility issues, they’ve just decided to put her in a lodge on the property. That’s happened in Sandringham too, the Queen doesn’t stay in the big main house anymore, she stays at Wood Farm, which is all handicap-accessible. Sounds like they did those same upgrades to Craigowan Lodge too. Plus, I’m sure it’s easier for staff to care for the Queen in a smaller space.
The Daily Beast wondered if the Queen’s summer holiday will actually be tranquil and drama-free. The Royalist notes that the Queen always invites the prime minister to come up in early September, and if Boris Johnson is still PM, he’ll likely be made to schlep up there. If not BoJo, the new PM will be expected to travel up to Balmoral. There will also be talk of regency and abdication, but I simply don’t see either of those things happening in any formal way. Charles is already regent in all but name, and clearly, the Queen will not abdicate. Of course, the biggest dramas will probably come from the Queen’s family – Charles, William and Andrew are all expected to put some time in up in Scotland, and there’s obviously a lot of angst there.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- North America Rights Only – Edinburgh, UK -20220628- Queen Elizabeth II attends an armed forces act of loyalty parade in the gardens of the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh, as they mark her platinum jubilee in Scotland. The ceremony is part of the Queen’s traditional trip to Scotland for Holyrood Week. -PICTURED: Queen Elizabeth II -PHOTO by: PA Images/INSTARimages.com Disclaimer: This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact INSTAR Images for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207. This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. INSTAR Images reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded For images containing underage children: Be advised that some Countries may have restricted privacy laws against publishing images of underage children. Inform yourself! Underage children may need to be removed or have their face pixelated before publishing
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- North America Rights Only – Edinburgh, UK -20220628- Queen Elizabeth II attends an armed forces act of loyalty parade in the gardens of the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh, as they mark her platinum jubilee in Scotland. The ceremony is part of the Queen’s traditional trip to Scotland for Holyrood Week. -PICTURED: Queen Elizabeth II -PHOTO by: PA Images/INSTARimages.com Disclaimer: This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact INSTAR Images for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207. This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. INSTAR Images reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded For images containing underage children: Be advised that some Countries may have restricted privacy laws against publishing images of underage children. Inform yourself! Underage children may need to be removed or have their face pixelated before publishing
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- Queen Elizabeth II receives First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon during an audience at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, as part of her traditional trip to Scotland for Holyrood Week.,Image: 703769242, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Jane Barlow / Avalon
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- Queen Elizabeth II attending the Queen’s Body Guard for Scotland (also known as the Royal Company of Archers) Reddendo Parade in the gardens of the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh. Picture date: Thursday June 30, 2022.,Image: 704275652, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- The Prince of Wales, known as the Duke of Rothesay when in Scotland and Queen Elizabeth II attending the Queen’s Body Guard for Scotland (also known as the Royal Company of Archers) Reddendo Parade in the gardens of the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh. Picture date: Thursday June 30, 2022.,Image: 704275751, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- The Duke of Buccleuch and Queen Elizabeth II attending the Queen’s Body Guard for Scotland (also known as the Royal Company of Archers) Reddendo Parade in the gardens of the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh. Picture date: Thursday June 30, 2022.,Image: 704275771, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- Queen Elizabeth II attending the Queen’s Body Guard for Scotland (also known as the Royal Company of Archers) Reddendo Parade in the gardens of the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh. Picture date: Thursday June 30, 2022.,Image: 704275824, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- Queen Elizabeth II attending the Queen’s Body Guard for Scotland (also known as the Royal Company of Archers) Reddendo Parade in the gardens of the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh. Picture date: Thursday June 30, 2022.,Image: 704275829, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- North America Rights Only – Edinburgh, UK -20220628- Queen Elizabeth II attends an armed forces act of loyalty parade in the gardens of the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh, as they mark her platinum jubilee in Scotland. The ceremony is part of the Queen’s traditional trip to Scotland for Holyrood Week. -PICTURED: Queen Elizabeth II -PHOTO by: PA Images/INSTARimages.com Disclaimer: This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact INSTAR Images for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207. This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. INSTAR Images reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded For images containing underage children: Be advised that some Countries may have restricted privacy laws against publishing images of underage children. Inform yourself! Underage children may need to be removed or have their face pixelated before publishing
I would stay in Scotland too, if it were up to me.
I bet the smaller lodgings they have updated for her also have ac. There will be hundreds of articles now about whether or not “the irrelevant ones” will come to Balmoral.
C&C aren’t spring chickens either, they should use a little foresight and make the main house somewhat wheelchair accessible. Face it, there isn’t going to be another young monarch in the foreseeable future.
There are rumors that PC will give Balmoral to Scotland when he is king.
@ equality, that’s interesting….
They deserve it. Hopefully, they will join the other rats jumping ship!!
@equality It isn’t just rumours. Charles has whined for years that Balmoral costs around 3 million pounds a year to run, so he is more than happy to offload it to the Scottish nation. He has Birkhall which is all he cares about (which comes with extensive landownings, similar to Balmoral) since he designed it to his preferences. Same as Highgrove (country house, designed to his preferences) and Clarence House (in lieu of Buckingham Palace) and Windsor Castle for London.
https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/scottish-news/prince-charles-give-balmoral-people-26234320
Since the unchallenged reporting of her anti-Meghan comments, I find I don’t particularly care what kind of summer she has, unless it involves making restitution for the shocking global crimes of her family
^^ I thought a statement was put out by BP that the Queen did not make the comments about Meghan attributed to her in Bowel’s book.
Interesting how TQ is quite capable of making statements to cover her own ass, but refused over the years to make any statement of solidarity with Meghan. The old gal ain’t fooling me. She could have gone to bat for H&M but she doesn’t have a decent bone in her body. Harry’s love for his grandmother lets her off the hook in his eyes I guess.
She gets the peace (or lack of) based on the way she raised or didn’t raise.
I’m sure she’ll have a nice vacation. She’s going to a castle in Scotland for two months.
Surely that’s up to her and her aides! The media have already started with the “will they, won’t they” with H&M. Why bother telling the press an invitation has been extended to them and at the same time making it clear other members of the BRF will be away if H&M are there, if they didn’t want the “drama”?
Nah, I’m not buying it! The suits want H&M there so they can report back to the rat pack that TQ only saw them for 15 minutes and everyone-else snubbed them. They might even tell us that Meghan made the DuchessofTights cry again! For whatever reason these people NEED the drama of H&M because the “Golden Couple” just aint cutting it!
It’s also probably easier to make changes to the lodge than the main castle, especially when it comes to disability accommodations and such.
This. With many older homes, especially ones pre 20th century, making them handicap accessible means a gut rehab. I have a friend whose mother basically didn’t want to leave her Victorian home. They built a ramp in the back and turned the dining room into a bedroom so she could live on the first floor.
My grandmother stayed in her Victorian home until the very end (at 89). She turned the downstairs back pantry/loo into a bathroom with walk in shower years ago and the plan was always to use the dining room as a bedroom when the time came which she did. Annoyingly we had a stairlift fitted which she barely used and she was gone within six months of it going in! Turns out they’re worthless at resale. Live and learn.
How nice to be paid that much for nothing much.
Boris Johnson will still be PM. He doesn’t leave office until after the summer so I’m sure he and Carrie will be invited to Balmoral.
Awesome. I hope she has the vacation she deserves.
I adore this comment.
As do I!!
As I was reading the article, my eyes need a bit of an adjustment period which I thought read it as; “ The queen typically lives for her summer estate”.
It sounded plausible to me….
Absolutely!
You reap what you sow.
She could follow the Pope’s example and travel to Canada during the summer to apologize to indigenous people.
Agree!!
That’s all I thought about when I was reading the NYT yesterday morning. I kept thinking how powerful it would be if anyone from the The Monarchy would accompany the Pope to apologize and other verbal, physical apologies to everyone. There was an estimated 100,000 children stolen and only 5,000 that came back. The Indigenous Tribes of Canada deserve more than an apology, but also reparations of their lands, which one of the Tribe leaders is demanding. Quite curious when the Catholic Church will also finally finishing their overdue reparations to the Indigenous Tribes owed for decades. It’s about 2M out of 200M, around that, still owed.
please don’t have me but I only subscribe to the paper Sunday issue, which is place in one of our 3 recycling bins.
@BothSides:
Just to emphasize that we refer to Indigenous First Nations, not tribes. This is a way of acknowledging the equal (and prior) sovereignty of Indigenous Peoples over their lands, and to affirm a nation-to-nation relationship with the Canadian Government (in theory and in spirit, at least – it hasn’t been this way in practice).
PunkPrincessPhD, thank you for informing us about the proper way to address the Indigenous Peoples of Canada. In the US, we are so used to using Tribe, that we tend to (maybe arrogantly??????) expect all to be called the same. I’ve learned a lot by reading Celebitchy about Canada.
Well given I keep seeing articles about the Queen demanding the Cambridges come see her once they are done with their latest vacation so she can supposedly ream them out about their helicopter use, I don’t think so lol. I keep seeing articles popping up criticizing William and Kate for having George and William travel together. Supposedly after George turns 12, he will no longer be allowed to travel with William. We know it’s not Harry and Meghan leaking these dumb stories so my money is on Charles/Clarence House. Also since when have the Windsors ever been drama free?
Gawd! Now she’s even got matching buttons on her hat! Don’t you see why Kate does buttons so often? When K’s not copying her dead m-i-l (who she never met,) she’s buttoning up to granny.
She actually looks really lovely in periwinkle blue and it kind of makes me want to paint a wall that colour…
Otherwise I’m excited to hear nothing of her or her sons for a couple months. (But I am crossing my fingers for a summer of Middleton press drama – the soapier the better lol. Rose Jecca Matthews maybe?
She “valiantly” survived the English heatwave, according to VF? She’s not a nurse working a long shift in a hospital ward without air conditioning — she sits comfortably all day long, as people attend to her every wish and need.
I honestly don’t know why the English haven’t revolted.
I think the only way TQ will have a nice peaceful Summer is if her FK and FFK simply stay out of sight. That should do it.