Sandringham's ghost worried staff so much that the Queen Mother arranged a religious service to cleanse it

Sandringham's ghost is said to have caused such a huge ruckus at the royal residence that the Queen Mother felt compelled to act. According to reports, the late royal even organized for a local Parson to hold a service there - which only she attended.

• Sandringham's ghost story is said to have come to an abrupt end after the Queen Mother took action to end the haunting.
• According to claims from a former lady-in-waiting, only she and the Queen Mother attended the service.
• In other royal news, Queen and Prince Philip’s wedding anniversary: a look back at the glamour, the gifts and the gaffe that almost ruined Her Majesty’s big day.

In light of the long history held by the palaces and privately owned homes of the Royal Family, it's no surprise that some come along with tales of paranormal activity. Sandringham House isn't immune to this and according to reports, Sandringham's ghost caused such a stir that the Queen Mother called in the experts.

The story is detailed by veteran newspaper diarist and gossip Kenneth Rose in his personal diaries, which were published following his death in 2014. The diaries were released as books after he died, aged 89, and the second volume, titled Who Wins, Who Loses, included the ghoulish goings-on. Excerpts from the second volume shared in the Daily Mail (opens in new tab), describe the incident that's said to have happened the summer preceding January 2001.

"Prue Penn [the Queen Mother’s lady-in-waiting] tells me that at Sandringham in the summer, the Queen invited her to attend a little service in one of its rooms conducted by the local parson," reads the diary entry. "The only other person present was the Queen Mother."

Kenneth added that some of the servants had complained about the room, saying it was haunted, and that they refused to work in it. At the Queen Mother's behest, the local parson investigated the rooms of the home. "The parson walked from room to room and did indeed feel some sort of restlessness in one of them."

It transpired that the room in question had been specially adapted into a bedroom for Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother's late husband, King George VI, where his final months were spent before he died in 1952, of coronary thrombosis aged 56. 

Despite the disturbances, it appears that the energy wasn't deemed malevolent as the religious ceremony held wasn't focused on expunging nasty spirits. "The parson held a service there, not exactly of exorcism," explained Kenneth, "which is the driving out of an evil spirit, but of bringing tranquillity. The congregation of three took Holy Communion and special prayers were said, I think for the repose of the King’s soul in the room in which he died."

The Queen Mother died at the age of 101, on March 30 2002, at Royal Lodge, Windsor. The Royal Family has never publicly addressed this story, which is one of many alleged paranormal incidences in the Norfolk home.

In his book, Britain’s Ghostly Heritage (opens in new tab), author John West discussed the goings on at Sandringham. "Christmas cards move on mantlepieces, doors open on their own, lights turn on and off, and eerie footsteps have been reported at the Queen’s Norfolk retreat."

The author even claimed that King Charles had his own scary experience in his youth when, "he and the footman fled in terror from the library after they felt someone was chasing them."