Birkhall

Birkhall (BerkHA; from the Scots Birk Haugh: "Birch River-meadow"[1]) is a 53,000 acre (210 km²) estate on Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.[2] It is located alongside the River Muick to the southwest of Ballater.[3]

History

The property was built in 1715.[4] The property was acquired from the Gordon family (owners of the Abergeldie estate). In 1849, it was acquired by Prince Albert, consort to Queen Victoria.[4] It became the Deeside home of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother in 1930, and later of Prince Charles, the Duke of Rothesay.[2][3][4] He also spent his second honeymoon here in 2005. In 2011, Prince William and Kate Middleton celebrated New Year's Eve here.[5]

A fine wire suspension bridge erected in 1880 by John Harper crosses the River Muick here.

References

  1. ^ Place-Names of the Cairngorms National Park, Cairngorms National Park Authority
  2. ^ a b Birkhall at the Prince of Wales's website
  3. ^ a b 'Royal retreat for grieving prince', on BBC News, 10 April, 2002 [1]
  4. ^ a b c Hello Magazine webpage
  5. ^ Allison Corneau, 'PIC: Prince Harry Has Snowball Fight With Pal in Switzerland', in US Weekly, December 31, 2011 [2]
Occupied


Historical