Crown's Mystique Diminished: Late Queen Elizabeth's Balmoral Castle Opened to Public in King Charles' 'Retail Monarchy'
The late Queen Elizabeth II believed that the monarchy's mystique was vital, which is why she would likely be displeased with King Charles opening up Balmoral Castle.
Queen Elizabeth II would likely not be on board with Balmoral Castle opening its doors to the public.
"Queen Elizabeth wouldn’t be happy about it at all, I wonder whether she would have agreed to it and I think probably not," former royal butler Grant Harrold said on behalf of Spin Genie. "She felt the balcony at Buckingham Palace was a private thing and the public wasn’t supposed to know what was beyond the door."
"The Queen liked a bit of mystery with certain things and that wing is private," he added. "It had offices and bedrooms for staff and the room had a lot of personal meaning to it, which is why she wanted it to remain private. The late Queen was also fierce about the privacy of Balmoral."
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert purchased the estate in 1852. Enamored with the Scottish Highlands, they commissioned the construction of a new castle to replace the original, deemed too small. Completed in 1856, the new Balmoral Castle was designed in the Scottish Baronial style, reflecting the romanticism of the Victorian era.
The castle's interiors were glimpsed briefly throughout Elizabeth II's record-breaking reign, but never in full detail — however, King Charles wishes to change that.
"The King sees it in a very different way to his mother because it's not his private home when he is in Scotland," Harrold pointed out when reflecting the drastically different styles of reign between mother and son. "He only uses it for a couple of weeks of the year so opening it to the public will generate their revenue and give the public some insight. Interestingly, they will open the room to the public where the last photo of the Queen was taken, I think this will make the public quite emotional."
In terms of 2024, Charles III may be on to something when it comes to flashy opulence in a more egalitarian age.
"But, the King is aware that in the world we live in there are a lot of royal rooms that he isn’t using in both palaces so he is happy to open them up to the public. If she was alive she wouldn’t be happy about it but I think she was aware times were changing and would allow Charles to do so if that’s what he wants. It’s just a different royal family, a different generation, it’s as simple as that."
One royal insider couldn't disagree more, though.
"Opening the palaces like this, especially the private ones, is like something out of a retail monarchy, which misses the point of royalty," a former palace insider shared. "It's all about mystery, gold carriages, and deference no matter the era. One may as well elect a president at this point."
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