There’s a distinctly end-of-term feel about the Royal Family this month. And the King and Queen have now retired to the Scottish Highlands after a jam-packed summer season.
They love this part of the world and their Birkhall home there - so much so, that this is where they spent their honeymoon 21 years ago.
Later this month and next, they will host the wider Royal Family at Balmoral Castle, a short Land Rover ride away.
Kate Middleton, Prince William and the children usually come at the end of August, along with Mike and Zara Tindall with their kids, plus Peter Phillips and his daughters. It’s at the end of the school summer holidays, and all the kids have a great time, I’m told.
Prince George, 13, Princess Charlotte, 11, and Prince Louis, eight, love spending time with Mia, 12, Lena, eight, and Lucas Tindall, five, plus Savannah, 15, and Isla Phillips, 14.
Charles and Camilla finished their official duties by hosting a reception for the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow - and arriving to open the games in the Doctor Who TARDIS, no less!
Prior to that, they’d been on great form at the RHS Sandringham Flower Show. Camilla got the giggles when she was given a toy radish, while the King was busy dispensing cookery tips - telling a group of schoolchildren to try spinach as it was the ‘best thing in the world!’
The King has been on really good form this year - I’m told his engagements are pretty much back to his pre-cancer levels. Courtiers had saved Fridays for him to rest, ever since his cancer treatment started in February 2024.
But although he’s still receiving treatment (thought to be immunotherapy), doctors are very pleased with his progress.
Besides having a proper holiday in the Highlands (he loves to fish and paint), he will continue with state business. He will host a number of people at Balmoral, including the obligatory weekend with new Prime Minister Andy Burnham and his wife Marie-France van Heel.
I’m sure he’ll also fit in a visit to the Castle of Mey, nestled in Caithness at the tip of Scotland - home of his beloved grandmother, the Queen Mother - and perhaps attend the Mey Highland Games. And, certainly, he and Camilla will be at the Braemar Gathering at the Cairngorms National Park, a firm favourite of the late Queen.
Princess Anne and Sir Tim Laurence will be visiting lighthouses on her annual British cruise, while the Wales family have enjoyed a Mediterranean cruise and time at Anmer Hall, Norfolk.
But for all the Royal Family, it’s the Highlands that have their holiday hearts.
This feature first appeared in Woman magazine. Subscribe now and get your first 6 issues for £1.