Royals on holiday!
WithQueen Elizabethsettling into herlong vacation at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, travel plans for other members of the Windsor clan are coming together.
For their first summer together as husband and wife,Prince HarryandMeghan Marklewill have much of the coming weeks to themselves (following thewedding of Harry’s good friend Charlie van Straubenzee this weekend!).
The newlyweds will likely head to Scotland to join the Queen for a few days, as is customary for royal family members during the summer holiday. The Queen, 92, expects everyone to join in the festivities at some point before she heads back to London in early October.
It will be Meghan’s first visit to the estate since her wedding, and she will be expected to immerse herself in everything from outdoor picnics and barbecues to joining her husband hunting or stalking deer (an activity the animal-loving former actress may decline!). In Scotland, the rhythm of daily life is very different. Long walks in the heather amid the nibbling midges are also likely to be on the vacation to-do list, while inside the castle there are traditional parties and dances.
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“The Queen pours the tea but that is the extent of her culinary efforts.”
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Sometimes there are unwanted guests in the drafty castle. A footman who was interviewed for Hoey’s book said that they would have to fetch a net so the Queen could personally catch bats that had flown in and then release them. “She was very strict about them not being harmed. Of course, the next day they would all come back again and we would go through the same routine. I think she enjoyed it,” the source told Hoey.
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Prince William, Prince Charles and Prince Harry on the Balmoral Castle estate.Tim Graham/Getty Images
Despite the relaxed atmosphere, the business of monarchy is never too far away. While the Queen has to keep up with the correspondence and official legal and government paperwork that arrives in red leather boxes, her grandsonPrince Williamonce used a late-summer vacation in Scotland to prepare for a new role.
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His father,Prince Charles, had a special sword delivered to his home Birkhall, on the estate, in September 2013, so that hecould teach his sonthe rudiments of dubbing someone a knight — without having an accident with the glistening blade! William’s first investiture carried out on behalf of the Queen took place around this time.
For William and Kate and their three children, their summer has already started with a sunshine break in the Caribbean, when they visited Mustique with Kate’s parents — where they likely enjoyed tennis, scuba-diving and teaching the children to swim.
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“Spending quality time together is such an important aspect of family life and for me, as a mother, it is the simple family moments like playing outside together that I cherish,” she said.
source: people.com
