WITH a roaring fire in the background the Queen gently smiles as she places a hand on her walking stick to steady herself in the drawing room at Balmoral.
Taken on the day she appointed Liz Truss as Prime Minister, it is a picture that reflects just how happy and content the monarch has been spending time on her beloved Aberdeenshire estate.
From memories of her time there with her late father, George VI, to family summers with the Duke of Edinburgh and their children, the Queen never hid her fondness for Balmoral or indeed her love of Scotland.
Balmoral was long been one of the Queen’s favourite places and she was said to never have been happier than when staying there.
She travelled to the estate each summer and members of her family were invited to spend time with her while she was there.
Balmoral Castle was handed down to her through generations of royals after being bought for Queen Victoria by Prince Albert in 1852.
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The Queen’s traditional annual stay at the main property, after a break at Craigowan Lodge on the estate in July, usually stretched through August and September and into October.
This year she travelled to Balmoral on July 21 and remained at the estate to appoint a new prime minister there for the first time in her reign on Tuesday.
The 96-year-old monarch, who had faced continuing mobility issues, traditionally held audiences with outgoing and incoming premiers at Buckingham Palace but this year stayed in Scotland.
Outgoing prime minister Boris Johnson and his successor Ms Truss made the 1,000-mile round trip to Aberdeenshire for the audiences this week.
It came after the Queen broke with convention earlier this summer when inspecting a guard of honour to officially mark taking up residence at her Scottish home.
Traditionally, she inspected the guard of honour at the gates of Balmoral but this year she held the event privately within the estate’s grounds for her “comfort”, sources said.
Balmoral, like Sandringham, is a private residence of the monarch rather than a royal residence belonging to the Crown.
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Princess Eugenie, the Queen’s granddaughter, once described Balmoral as the most beautiful place on the planet.
“Walks, picnics, dogs – a lot of dogs, there’s always dogs – and people coming in and out all the time,” she said.
“It’s a lovely base for granny and grandpa, for us to come and see them up there; where you just have room to breathe and run.”
Years of royal memories were forged at Balmoral, including family barbecues, where the Duke of Edinburgh did the cooking and the Queen the washing-up.
After Philip and Princess Elizabeth married in 1947, they spent part of their honeymoon at Birkhall – a grand hunting lodge on the Balmoral estate.
The Queen was staying with her grandsons William and Harry at Balmoral when their mother Diana, Princess of Wales died in a car crash in Paris in 1997.
The monarch’s bond with Scotland was cemented even further shortly after her Coronation at Westminster Abbey. The Queen spent a week in Scotland, attending a National Service Of Thanksgiving And Dedication at St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh, on June 24, 1953. Cheering crowds witnessed a magnificent procession accompanying the royal carriage bearing the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh to St Giles.
The Honours of Scotland, the Crown, Sceptre and Sword, were ceremonially presented to the Sovereign, witnessed by 1,700 worshippers from all walks of Scottish life, and seen live on television. The Moderator of the General Assembly captured the moment when he said: “Today you and I are Scotland, greeting with all that we have to offer of love and duty our gracious young Queen.”
The Royal Yacht Britannia was launched by the Queen at John Brown’s shipyard in Clydebank on April 16, 1953 and more than 30,000 people at the dockside sang Rule Britannia. The ship carried the Queen and her family on many journeys through Scottish waters and around the world until the vessel was de-commissioned in 1997.
Scotland was also a destination for her Silver, Gold and Diamond Jubilees. During her visit to Perth in 2012, she said of the country: “Scotland has played such a very special part in our lives, and that of my family, over the years and we have greatly enjoyed our frequent visits.”
Balmoral has also been the place where she has drawn inspiration for speeches.
In 2013 her words were written while on her holiday at Balmoral for her 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games speech, which was placed inside a baton before it set off on its relay through all 71 nations and territories of the Commonwealth.
The paper was housed in a transparent cylinder within the baton’s titanium frame.
The message highlighted the “bonds that unite” the Commonwealth countries.
The Queen also made reference to the Games’ long-standing nickname of “the Friendly Games”.
She said: “The baton relay represents a calling together of people from every part of the Commonwealth and serves as a reminder of our shared ideals and ambitions as a diverse, resourceful and cohesive family.
“And now that baton has arrived here in Glasgow, a city renowned for its dynamic cultural and sporting achievements and for the warmth of its people, for this opening ceremony of the Friendly Games.”
During her visit to Scotland last year for Holyrood Week she visited the Irn- Bru factory in Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire, accompanied by The Duke of Cambridge.
The Queen was introduced to Scotland’s other national drink as she began a four-day visit of the country. The tour of AG Barr’s factory was her first official visit north of the Border since the death of the Duke of Edinburgh two months before.
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