King plans upgrade for Balmoral amid rising visitor numbers to Deeside castle

Plans lodged to help estate meet “demands of mass market tourism”

King Charles is planning an upgrade to Balmoral amid a rise in visitor numbers to the castle and its grounds.

Latest available figures show around 70,000 people a year visit the Deeside pile and gardens, which the King inherited following the death of Elizabeth II last September.

Visitor numbers to the castle are now rising with an application lodged with Aberdeenshire Council to help improve and extend The Piper’s Hall cafe , which sits in the Queen’s Building, in order to help meet demands from the “mass tourism market”.

The cafe at Balmoral is due to be extended and improved to help meet the demands of "mass market tourism" at Balmoral, according to planning papers. PIC: Creative Commons.

A document submitted to the planning authority said: “With an increase in visitor numbers, the Visitor Enterprise team have identified the need to

refresh and improve the visitor offering at Piper’s Hall. This application is for the refurbishment, alteration and extension of Queen’s Building.”

The Queen’s Building was created in the early 1980s with another 60 seats to be added to the cafe with the creation of a covered terrace. A takeaway kiosk is also planned to help deal with the increased numbers coming to the estate.

The existing stone structure is to be clad in fallen Scottish larch taken from the estate, with Caithness flagstone to be used for paving and Welsh slate for the roof. The aim is to blend the “utilitarian” building in with the rest of the estate property. Solar panels will be placed in the roof to boost electricity supply.

King Charles is due to upgrade part of the Balmoral Estate given a rise in the number of people visiting the castle and grounds on Deeside. He is pictured here on the estate back in 2021, while still the Prince of Wales. (Photo by Andrew Milligan / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW MILLIGAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

The design statement added: “The addition of the extensions and development of the takeaway kiosk is integral to the development of the visitor offering. This will allow the catering operation to seat more people undercover, which is essential to add value to the customer experience.

"This also allows us to make better use of the internal space for a multitude of functions and still cope with the mass tourism market.”

Balmoral Castle was unable to comment directly on the factors behind the rise in visitor numbers but the success of Netlflix series The Crown has earlier been linked to a rise in popularity of the castle.

The Queen died at Balmoral in September 2022 with thousands of people turning up to lay flowers and pay their respects at the gates of the castle.

Balmoral, alongwith Sandringham, are privately owned by the King and sit outwith the Crown Estates with Queen Victoria first putting the castle into a family trust in order that it could be inherited by her children. It now sits in a commercial trust called Canup Ltd. The Deeside estate costs around £3m a year to run, according to reports, with around half of that thought to come from visitor-related activity.

Visitors to the castle are granted access only to the ballroom which features a selection of photographs and outfits worn by The Queen.

However, it has been reported that more of Balmoral Castle could be opened up, possibly as a museum, as the King assesses his properties and the value to the public.

The proposals for The Piper’s Hall are being considered by planners at Aberdeenshire Council. Last Spring, they approved changes to the late Queen’s Craigowan residence on the estate, with a new wheelchair-friendly lift, security gate, intercom and CCTV camera system fitted.