While the Royal Family owns many properties throughout the U.K. Queen Elizabeth’sBuckingham Palace may be her official residence. However, her free time is split between Balmoral Castle and Windsor Castle in Scotland. Though both hold a massive amount of sentiment for the queen, there’s a major difference between the two properties.
Queen Elizabeth’s Beloved Residences
Queen Elizabeth visits a variety of properties over the course of a single year. Sandringham Estate in Norfolk is one of the places where the entire family gathers for holiday celebrations like Christmas.
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Then, of course, there’s Buckingham Palace, which serves as the queen’s official residence. These magnificent halls have not seen Queen Elizabeth in a while.
The coronavirus pandemic struck in 2020. Many people were forced to quarantine. To avoid this new virus, the queen stayed at Windsor Castle with Prince Philip, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh.
Wondrous Windsor Castle
It’s the residence where Philip passed away in 2021 and where he is buried, so there’s no question that it will always have major significance for the widowed queen. After being lowered with COVID-19 earlier, the queen has since returned to Windsor Castle.
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While Windsor is no doubt a residence that gives the queen comfort, there’s another residence where she summers that’s equally as important. Balmoral Castle in Scotland hosts Queen Elizabeth every year. This is because she spends the warmer months of the calendar in the cool, crisp air up north. It’s a longstanding tradition, though that tradition was disrupted in 2020 thanks to COVID.
Beautiful Balmoral Castle
It’s clear how important both properties are to the queen and her family, but there’s a difference between them. Queen Elizabeth currently resides at Balmoral Castle which she owns with Sandringham Estate. The Crown actually owns Windsor Castle, despite the fact that it is of personal significance to the queen.
While the estate is technically owned by the monarch and her family, they are allowed to use it as their own. She and her family still have enough properties to provide housing for their families for many years.