The Sunday Times - UK (2022-06-05)

The Sunday Times June 5, 2022 13

Cairngorms

National Park

10 miles

Dundee

Spittal of Glenshee

Braemar

Balmoral

Ballater

Loch Muick

I like it, strutting about the

exhibits on the very same

sprung wooden floor where

Victoria stripped the willow

at the first Ghillies Ball 170

years before.

You can do a free audio tour

of the ballroom and gardens,

and a six-mile loop between

14 cairns commemorating

significant family milestones

such as Prince Albert’s death.

Instead I plump for a walk

round Loch Muick, said to be

Above me, around me, the

cloud creeps down off

shrouded peaks in a veil of

moody greys; beneath me,

the loch lies leaden, eerily

silent but for a black-throated

diver mewling from the

water. There are more than

3,000 red deer on the

Balmoral estate; 30

minutes in, I swear

I’ve seen them

all. Otherwise,

I am thrillingly

alone.

Then suddenly

the weirdest

thing. Stopping

for a swig of water,

I spot a figure walking

towards me, on his own,

head-to-toe in full Highland

plumage (tweed plus-fours,

deerstalker, crook). From 30

yards out, I 100 per cent know

who it is: Prince Charles.

“Hiya,” I say, instantly

appalled at my informality;

he doesn’t stop. I toy with

papping him on my phone,

but it feels wrong. I wait till he

has disappeared down the

trail, then continue along the

path, grinning broadly. Time

for a bath, maybe a pint, and

who knows, maybe a selfie

with Camilla in the Co-op.

Charles’s favourite stroll.

The loch lies eight miles

from Balmoral as the royal

carrier pigeon flies, with a

shoreside bothy where

Victoria holed up to mourn

Albert. The Queen loves it

so much she called her

newest corgi

“Muick”. Right

from the start of

the eight-mile

loop, it’s easy

to see why.

One old boy

swears he saw

Camilla buying

ciggies at the

Co-op

From far left: Prince

Charles, officially the

Duke of Rothesay in

Scotland; Balmoral,

holiday home of the

monarch since 1852;

the Duke of Edinburgh,

the Queen, Charles and

Camilla at the Braemar

Highland Gathering in

2006. Below: a view
      down the River Dee

braemargathering.org), the

most famous of all Highland

Games, which the Queen

has attended virtually every

year since coming to the

throne in 1952.

Next to the playing field I

take tea in the elegant new

pavilion (good), then yawn my

way around the Highland

Games exhibits next door

(bad). If you’ve only got one

fiver in your pocket, spend it

on a second pot of tea.

Better still, spend it on a

pint at the Fife Arms hotel.

Opened in 2019 by the Duke

and Duchess of Rothesay (or

Charles and Camilla as they’re

known outside Scotland), this

former Victorian coaching inn

is owned by the art-world

power couple Manuela and

Iwan Wirth, who have filled it

with gobsmacking pieces.

I have an ale in the public

bar (stuffed stag with swan’s

wings “flying” above the

counter, natch), pump the

barman for royal goss (he’s

not playing), then sneak next

door to ogle art. There’s

a Freud in reception, a

Picasso in the lounge — and

watercolours by Charles

and Queen Victoria casually

dotting the corridors. It’s

completely bonkers, with

gloriously gothic decor by

Russell Sage — well worth

the £210 it’ll cost you for

the cheapest room

(thefifearms.com).

The village where you’re

most likely to spot a royal —

unless you’re prepared to go

full fanboy outside Crathie

Kirk at the end of Sunday

service — is Ballater. Edward

VIII caused a stooshie here by

bunking off a hospital opening

in Aberdeen to meet Wallis

Simpson off the train, and

Diana used to swim with

Wills and Harry at a country

club that is now a Hilton.

If you’re here once the

Rothesay Rooms reopen this

summer, stick it on your to-do

list. Sensitively restored by the

Prince’s Foundation after fire

destroyed it in 2015, it has a

menu that reads like a walk

around the glens, with lamb

farmed 30 minutes north and

cheese from Cambus O’May

creamery down the road

(mains from £25; rothesay-

rooms.co.uk). I eat at the

Glenaden hotel bar, where an

old boy swears he once saw

Kylie Minogue in the village

sweet shop and Camilla

buying ciggies at the Co-op.

The next day it’s Balmoral

itself. Built for Victoria in

1856, the castle is a Disney-on-

Dee gala of glowering granite

and Scots baronial towers,

lording it over 50,000 acres of

pine forests and indomitable

hills. The bad news is it’s

only open to the public from

April 1 to August 2 — and

you’re restricted to exploring

the gardens and ballroom

(£15 adult, £6 child;

balmoralcastle.com).

Tripadvisor is divided, but

Clockwise from top: Highland Games dancers; the

village of Ballater; a bedroom at the Fife Arms hotel

GLEN