King Charles III begins annual summer holiday at Balmoral Castle

King Charles III is currently spending his annual summer holiday at Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire. The tradition involves the royal family gathering at the estate, though Prince Harry has historically not attended the annual trip.

In his memoir, Spare, Prince Harry detailed a past conflict regarding an invitation to Balmoral, describing a previous request from the King that excluded Meghan Markle as “nonsensical” and “disrespectful.” While a recent meeting between Charles and Harry has raised the possibility of his return to the family's summer gatherings, his attendance remains uncertain.

The royal family's presence at Balmoral is often associated with the Balmoral Tartan, a unique granite-toned pattern that has been the private property of the British monarch for nearly a century. Formalized in 1937, the tartan is legally restricted; only members of the royal family and the sovereign's pipers are permitted to wear it, and it cannot be commercially reproduced for general sale.