Birkhall
Birkhall is a 53,000 acre estate on Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is located alongside the River Muick to the southwest of Ballater.History
The property was built in 1715. The property was acquired from the Gordon family who had acquired it from the Farquharsone family. Birkhall was acquired by Prince Albert, consort to Queen Victoria, as part of the Balmoral Castle estate in 1849 and given to his eldest son, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. Victoria bought Birkhall back to provide accommodation for her staff and extended family in 1884; Prince Albert Edward had only visited Birkhall once as he preferred the larger Abergeldie Castle. Birkhall was occupied by General Sir Dighton Probyn, Keeper of the Privy Purse to King Edward VII and Comptroller to Queen Alexandra in the late 19th century and early twentieth-century.
King George V lent Birkhall in the 1930s to the Duke and Duchess of York, who holidayed there with their children, Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret Rose. The house was redecorated by the Yorks who also replanted the gardens. After the Duke of York ascended to the throne in 1936, the new King and Queen occupied Balmoral during the summer while Princess Elizabeth, her husband Prince Philip, and their children occupied Birkhall during the late summer season.
Birkhall was inherited by Charles, Prince of Wales and Duke of Rothesay, from Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother upon her death in 2002. He also spent his second honeymoon at Birkhall in 2005 with The Duchess of Cornwall. In 2011, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, celebrated Hogmanay at Birkhall.
In March 2020, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall self-isolated at Birkhall after the Prince tested positive for COVID-19.
A fine wire suspension bridge, erected in 1880 by John Harper, crosses the River Muick at Birkhall.
