Balmoral Castle closes to the public and opens to the royals: Who’s in and who’s out on this year’s summer guest list

Final preparations are underway in the Scottish Highlands as the monarch’s most exclusive residence gets ready to welcome members of the royal family in a matter of days.

But this year the guest list at Balmoral Castle will look a little different to previous summers, with some royals off and others included for the first time.

It’s peak holiday season in Europe and various kings and queens and princes and princess have retreated to their respective hideaways: the Danish royals went to Graasten Palace before relaxing on a yacht in Greece and the Spanish royals have taken up residence on the island of Mallorca at the Marivent Palace.

Now, it’s the British royal family’s turn to decamp to the only place the late Queen Elizabeth II felt truly comfortable, free from the fishbowl of palace life and public duty. It was also where Her late Majesty died on September 8, 2022, while on her summer holiday.

Balmoral Castle will close to the public this weekend and open up to the Windsors who will begin to arrive at the estate in the next fortnight.

Members of the public have until Sunday to visit the sprawling 50,000-acre estate Royal Deeside in Aberdeenshire before it is shut for two months.

Read more

Princess Eugenie gives birth to baby girl, Buckingham Palace confirms

The estate was originally purchased by Queen Victoria’s husband Prince Albert, in 1852, and has been handed down through the generations of royals ever since.

An invitation to Balmoral, one of two privately-owned residences by the monarch − the other being Sandringham in Norfolk − is the most exclusive ticket of the summer season.

King Charles and Queen Camilla will be officially welcomed to the estate with a ceremony at the gates in the coming week or so. Buckingham Palace is yet to publicly reveal the exact date, but it’s usually mid-August.

The monarch is already in Scotland and on Saturday he attended the Mey Highland Games, decked out in traditional highland dress: his jacket and waistcoat made of Scottish tweed and a kilt woven from a special fabric designed in 2023 for the king and appropriately named Charles III tartan.

The king’s arrival at Balmoral will officially mark the start of the royal family’s holiday there, allowing for other relatives to follow suit.

The king and queen typically stay at Birkhall, one of 150 other buildings on the grounds of Balmoral and a short drive from the main house. The monarch inherited Birkhall from his grandmother, the Queen Mother, when she died in 2002.

The Prince and Princess of Wales, and their three children Prince George, 13, Princess Charlotte, 11, and Prince Louis, eight, visit Balmoral every year but they do not stay in the main building either.

Instead, the Wales family stay at the much smaller cottage, Tam-Na-Ghar, which Prince William inherited from the Queen Mother. Tam-Na-Ghar is shrouded in secrecy, with no photos of its exterior or interior widely available.

The home was reportedly used as a romantic getaway by Prince William when he began dating his now wife in 2001.

Last week Prince William and Catherine, and their children, were seen cheering on athletes the Commonwealth Games before retreating from the spotlight for the summer. In previous years they have holidayed on the island of Mustique before heading to Balmoral.

In 2022, weeks after the death of Queen Elizabeth, the Princess of Wales told Australia’s then-Governor-General David Hurley Prince Louis had questioned whether the family’s visits to Balmoral would still be the same.

“The younger one is now asking questions like, ‘do you think we can still play these games when we go to Balmoral and things like that, cause she’s not going to be there?’” Hurley said of his conversation with Catherine at Buckingham Palace following the late monarch’s state funeral.

The Wales’ will, no doubt, be using their downtime in the Scottish Highlands as a much-needed breather before Prince George starts high school at Eton College in early September.

The former Duke and Duchess of York will be absent from Balmoral this year following Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s spectacular fall from grace over his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

They were invited by the king to Balmoral in 2025 but in October, the monarch stripped Andrew and Sarah Ferguson of their royal titles and honours as revelations of their friendships with Epstein continued to emerge.

Andrew and Ferguson were then evicted from their home, Royal Lodge in Windsor, and Andrew now lives at Marsh Farm on the Sandringham estate. In February, the former duke was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office during his decade as the UK’s trade envoy, over his dealings with Epstein. Andrew denies any wrongdoing.

While once regulars at Balmoral over the summer, and often the first of the royals to arrive at the estate, Andrew and Ferguson are not expected to receive an invitation this year, although it’s unclear if they have been banned.

The king has no plans to see his younger brother over the summer and a source close to the monarch recently told The Times the idea of Andrew and Fergie’s presence at Balmoral alongside the wider royal family would raise “considerable sensitivities”.

His two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, were also regulars at Balmoral, but it’s unclear if they will visit in the coming weeks.

Eugenie, 36, is recovering after giving birth to a daughter on August 3 in Portugal where she lives with her husband Jack Brooksbank and their two sons August, five, and Ernest, three. The family split their time between Portugal and London, living at Ivy Cottage, on the grounds of Kensington Palace.

Beatrice and Eugenie have been absent from several major royal-related events this year including Easter at Windsor Castle, Royal Ascot and Wimbledon. However, they returned to the royal fold for the wedding of their cousin, Peter Phillips and Harriet Sperling on June 6, alongside the king and senior members of the family.

In 2016 Princess Eugenie said of Balmoral: “Walks, picnics, dogs − a lot of dogs, there’s always dogs, and people coming in and out all the time. It’s a lovely base. I think Granny [Elizabeth II] is the most happy there. I think she really, really loves the Highlands.”

Princess Anne and her husband Sir Tim Laurence also stay on the estate during the summer months.

Other royals heading north to Balmoral include the Edinburghs, the Tindalls and the Phillips’.

Though it’s unclear whether Prince Edward and Sophie’s two children Lady Louise Windsor and James, Earl of Wessex, will join them.

Lady Louise, 22, graduated from St Andrew’s University in Scotland in early July and will take a gap year before pursuing a career away from the royal family.

At the weekend she was seen competing in the Glebe Estate Carriage Driving Trials in West Sussex, watched on by her rumoured boyfriend Felix da Silva-Clamp who is half-Australian. His dual nationality has sparked rumours Lady Louise may spend part of her gap year in Australia as her cousins Prince Harry and Zara Tindall did.

Zara and Mike Tindall, and their three children Mia, 12, Lena, eight, and Lucas, five, are also known to stay at Balmoral during the summer.

Peter Phillips and his new wife Harriet could visit the royal estate for the first time this year, just months after their wedding on June 6. The newlyweds have been regulars on the royal circuit in recent months, attending both Royal Ascot and Wimbledon and various polo events.

Another guest who’ll be experiencing Balmoral for the first time in the coming weeks is Britain’s new prime minister, Andy Burnham. Burnham is the fourth prime minister of the king’s four-year reign. He will be invited to Balmoral at the end of the summer, like all other PMs to have come before him.

Elizabeth II was famous for the so-called ‘Balmoral test’ when welcoming a new prime minister: using the vast estate and relaxed schedule to get to know them during walks, picnics and barbecues. The late monarch had 15 prime ministers throughout her historic 70-year reign.

Prince Harry’s planned return to the UK next month could also see him make a fleeting visit to Balmoral, although it is unlikely.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex sparked rumours they had already been to Balmoral during their recent family holiday to the UK after spending time in Portugal with Princess Eugenie.

A photo shared by Meghan as part of a 12-image “summer rewind” post on Instagram included one believed to have been taken in the Scottish Highlands.

The photo appeared to show Loch Ossian, a remote lake in Scotland prompting some observers to speculate the Sussexes had spent time near Balmoral either before or after reuniting with King Charles at his private home, Highgrove, on July 10.

While Harry is due back in London in September, it’s not known if Meghan and their two children will join him.