Balmoral Castle was treasured by the late Queen Elizabeth as a "special" place where she could enjoy private family gatherings, according to the King’s former butler Grant Harrold.
In a discussion with Bev Turner and Andrew Pierce on GB News, he also recalled dancing with the Queen in the castle’s ballroom.
Harrold said: “It's so special, I think for many reasons, but most importantly, it was a family home. And it's where she'd like to spend a lot of time with her family.
“We all know the Queen, obviously monarchy was the first thing, but she always said the family was right behind that. And so time with family was important, whether it be Sandringham or Balmoral, which were both properties that she privately-owned.
“I think people forget that if we suddenly no longer had a Royal Family, the Royal Family still owns Sandringham and Balmoral, so they are private homes and very special.”
On opening the doors to the public, he said: “I was surprised when it was announced, because for many years I've always said that Balmoral is one of the most private homes, they've always been quite fierce about keeping a private home, a private estate.
“You can visit the gardens at certain times of the year, you can see the ballroom as well, but to actually go into the rooms is really a big step for them.
“It just shows you the kind of future of the monarchy, with properties and opening the doors and letting the public in to see them.”
He recalled watching a film about the Royal Family: “In the film that I watched, the documentary, it was the Queen dancing and I remember thinking I would love to dance with the Queen.
“And about 12 years later, I was in that ballroom and got to dance with her in that room.
"She was in a beautiful dress. She had a blue dress on which was similar to what she wore in the documentary I saw and they actually replicated the scene in The Crown.
“I basically put my name down to go to the Ghillies Ball, which I'd seen in the documentary and there was no possibility of actually dancing with her. I actually danced with Queen Camilla before I actually got to dance with the Queen.
“I remember she said, ‘you're very nervous’ and I said it’s because I had this dream as a kid that I'll get to dance with the Queen. And she said, ‘oh Grant, there's 135 People here, it's not going to happen’.
“As soon as she finished, behind me was the Queen. And the music started we went into a reel and she was a very good dancer.
“But I always remember she kept looking down to make sure that we were doing the right footsteps with the Scottish dance. She’d tell you off if you got your footing wrong.”
He added: “I remember once doing lunch with the new King and we came out of this little cottage with this picnic. And as we came out of the house, this huge sightseeing bus suddenly appeared just to the side.
“Then the Prince of Wales, he was very good about it. He just kind of waved to everybody and then we just got into vehicles and we all drove off.”
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