Birkhall has been King Charles’ Scottish House for over twenty years, after inheriting ownership from his grandmother The Queen Mother. Every year, from July to September, Charles and his wife, Camilla, holiday at the sprawling country estate. Though the home is a private property, there have been many peeks inside over the years. Here’s a closer look:
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Hidden from view behind acres of mature woodland, Birkhall is a 53,000 acres estate perched above the River Muick and now forms part of the Balmoral estate. Built in 1715, the estate was once owned by the Farquharsone clan, who originally owned Balmoral, and later the Gordon family who sold it on to Prince Albert.
The estate was joined with Balmoral and became overflow accommodation for guests, extended family and staff over the years. In the 1930s, King George V offered the property to his second son and his wife, The Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth) to holiday in with their daughters Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret. The property then became Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip’s, after her father ascended to the throne, and their children spent many summers at the estate, including young Prince Charles who would later inherit the estate from his grannie, Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother.
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King Charles was very close to his grandmother, and when he inherited the residence in 2002, he kept a lot of her decorative touches including her collection of framed Vanity Fair prints hung up in main the stairwell. Extra prints have also been seen in the sitting room, where Prince Charles held a video call to deliver a speech for the opening of the Nightingale Centre in London, during the depth of the Covid-19 pandemic (see above).
Like many royal residences, the interiors are packed with framed family photos, artworks, antiques, cosy seating and printed textiles. As an erudite philomath, the house is unsurprisingly packed with books, best seen in the study where shelves overflow and stacks of books tower against any available wall-to-floor space. The study was seen in several video calls during the pandemic, and showed a desk covered in work documents.
The interiors have a cosy, homely quality, packed with personal touches and belongings that clearly show the relaxed environment enjoyed at the house. No wonder the then Duke and Duchess of Cornwall chose the charming retreat to spend the Covid-19 lockdowns during 2020. Queen Camilla also took to video calls during the era, providing further glimpses into the internal decor, with a peek of her own study (below). As a self-confessed bibliophile, it is no surprise to see another set of packed bookshelves, this time with a clear interest in fiction.
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As with every estate Charles touches, the land has been developed and improved with stunning gardens, stretches of agricultural land and protected forestry. In a feature for Country Life, Charles modestly explained “it is such a special place, particularly because it was made by my grandmother. It is a childhood garden, and all I’ve done, really, is enhance it a bit.” The articles describes some of the cultivated gardens:
a thyme-studded path now leads from the drawing-room windows and a ribbon of lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis) edges the flower-filled borders that run beside the house.
Alan Titchmarsh, Country Life, September 2022
“My gardening style is to try to work with the spirit of the place,” Charles explained “and to have enough time to walk round and round until a vision of how it should be comes to me. Sometimes, I see it in a dream.”
See more of King Charles’ decorative style by taking a look around Clarence House, or view other royal residences by browsing the ‘royalty‘ tag and views properties such as Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle or Balmoral Castle.
feature image: Clarence House twitter