Is King Charles making Balmoral Castle a wedding venue? Inside What’s Happening

Although there have been no weddings at Balmoral before, it has been a romantic venue for several royals

Everyone loves one royal wedding — and excitement is building around speculation that King Charles is seeking permission to convert a building in the grounds of Balmoral Castle into a wedding venue.

The 75-year-old king privately owns Scotland’s Balmoral Castle and its 50,000-acre estate, known as the summer escape of the British royal family for generations and where Queen Elizabeth died in 2022. Earlier this week, The Timesreported that an application has been sent to Aberdeenshire Council for a “major variation” to the Queen’s Building – which is close to the castle – which could allow weddings to take place.

“Part of the Queen’s Building may be used for weddings, dinners, meetings and associated events… These events may involve live performances and dancing where alcohol may be sold until 12:30 p.m.,” the application states, according to the publication . , with “rare year-round” events.

Related: Why Balmoral Castle held a special place in Queen Elizabeth’s heart

The appeal aims to increase the capacity of the building, built in the 1980s to house staff and renovated in 2023 to create more dining space for tourists. Capacity currently allows for 250 to 277 people indoors and 40 to 144 people outdoors.

Despite the hype, BBC reported on October 24 that this does not mean members of the public will be able to marry there.

“The Royal Estate later confirmed that this was not the case,” the selling agency said. “It is understood that Balmoral has in fact had an appropriate license in place for more than 15 years to host weddings, functions and events if it wishes, but there are no plans to do so commercially.”

Related: The King’s Real Estate: All about the houses of King Charles III in Great Britain

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert purchased the Balmoral estate in 1845, and although no major family weddings were held there, it was a sentimental place for more royals. Prince Philip he would have proposed to the then Princess Elizabeth there in 1946 and to the future King Charles and Princess Diana they honeymooned at the castle in 1981.

During the summer, the King made history by opening the doors of Balmoral to the public, offering ticketed tours for the first time. The July and August tours, priced from about $129 to $194 (tea included!), sold out within 24 hours.

The royal family previously allowed tours of Balmoral around the grounds and gardens, but access inside the castle was limited to the ballroom, making the castle’s most intimate Internal Guided Tours ever. The special offer ended before a key date — the launch of King Charles and Queen Camillahis annual summer stay in Scotland.

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While King Charles and Queen Camilla, 77, have continued the late Queen Elizabeth’s tradition of spending part of the late summer in Scotland, it is little known that they are not actually staying at Balmoral. Instead, they retreat to the neighboring Birkhall estate.

The future King Charles inherited Birkhall after his death Queen Elizabeth, Queen Mother in 2002 and reportedly honeymooned there with Camilla after they married in 2005.

The couple are known to spend their summers at the 18th century house and he stayed there too during a certain 2020 COVID pandemic.

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