King Charles officially welcomed at Balmoral as Royal Family travels to Scotland for summer holiday
King Charles officially welcomed at Balmoral as Royal Family travels to Scotland for summer holiday
PA
King Charles has been officially welcomed at Balmoral as the Royal Family travels to Scotland for their summer holiday.
During the small ceremony outside the Castle Gates, the King, 75, inspected a Guard of Honour formed of Balaklava Company, 5th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland.
The ceremony included performances by the Band of The Royal Regiment of Scotland and the Pipes and Drums of The Royal Corps of Signals.
The Royal Regiment of Scotland’s mascot, a Shetland pony named Corporal Cruachan IV, was also present.
King Charles officially welcomed at Balmoral as Royal Family travels to Scotland for summer holidayPAKing Charles and Queen Camilla are expected to stay at the Royal Deeside Estate until October.
The guard of honour marks the start of the monarch’s stay at the Scottish Highlands estate, where Queen Elizabeth II died in 2022.
It is tradition for the monarch to inspect troops when taking up residence.
A ceremony was held for the King as a small crowd observed from behind the gates.
King Charles wore a traditional Scottish kilt as he arrived at Balmoral
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The ceremony comes after Buckingham Palace opened up the royal residence to the public for the first time in June.
More than 3,000 guests bought a £100 ticket and were granted unprecedented access to the property on a 50-minute tour of seven rooms.
Before entering, however, they were required to put dust covers on their shoes and hand over their mobile phones, with all photography banned.
Until this summer, the interiors have largely remained out of bounds to the public, with tours limited to just the ballroom, the grounds and the gardens.
King Charles meets Shetland pony Cpl Cruachan IV during an inspection of Balaklava Company, 5th Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland
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King Charles met members of the public as the bagpipes played in Scotland
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When the Balmoral Estate announced in April that it would be hosting private tours for the first time since the castle was completed in 1855, the tickets sold out in two hours.
The King has resumed the tradition adopted by his late mother of spending an extended amount of time in the Highlands over the summer.
Queen Elizabeth II usually resided at Balmoral until the end of September or early October.