Here are some facts about Balmoral Castle.
- Balmoral Castle is located in Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
- It is a large estate house and it’s been one of the Royal residences of the British monarchy since 1852.
- Balmoral was purchased by Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria.
- Prince Albert helped architect William Smith design the current Balmoral Castle.
- The Balmoral Estate is now over 50,000 acres, and includes grouse moors, agricultural land and forests.
- A pre-fabricated iron building was made for Balmoral after Prince Albert had seen corrugated iron used for house building at the Great Exhibition of 1851.
- A bridge across the River Dee was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, linking Balmoral and Crathie. The construction was finished in 1857.
- Balmoral Castle is built from granite.
- Malt whisky (the Royal Lochnagar Single Malt) is distilled on the Balmoral Estate.
- There are over 150 buildings on the estate.
- More than 2000 red deer are thought to live on the estate.
- At the time of Princess Diana’s death, Queen Elizabeth II was at Balmoral.
- An image of Balmoral Castle has appeared on £100 notes issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland.
- A pyramid-shaped cairn was built on the estate after the death of Prince Albert to act as a memorial.
What next? Learn more about other famous castle and palaces in the United Kingdom.
