A £20,000 lift and beefed-up security systems are among the drastic changes being implemented at the Queen’s favourite Highlands cottage as she plans to spend “much more” time on the Balmoral estate.
It comes after the monarch spent most of the past two years based at Windsor Castle, with reports suggesting she will never again live at Buckingham Palace.
According to reports in The Sun, a new “wheelchair-friendly” lift, security gate, state-of-the-art intercom system and a string of new CCTV cameras are due to be installed at Craigowan Lodge in Aberdeenshire.
The 95-year-old Queen, who typically stays at the lodge twice a year – every April and for two weeks in summer, has been left needing a walking stick following recent health scares.
A Balmoral insider said: “For many years we have thought it would be the perfect place for the Queen to spend more time when she’s older. It's one of her favourite places in the country.
“With the proper lift and now this new security, it can effectively be sealed off so she can spend much more time there quietly in her late nineties.”
Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine, said: “Craigowan is one of the Queen's favourite homes. She loves being there.
“The idea of making it easier for her so she can spend more time there in the future is a great idea.
“It’s a big, big house. The security makes it very safe.
“It makes perfect sense. It’s a home she has always enjoyed and it gives her a bit of independence."
Royal biographer Penny Junor added: “I don’t think we will see her out and about as much as it’s quite clear her mobility is challenged.”
Plans have reportedly been lodged with Aberdeenshire Council for the new security measures with approval expected in the summer.
The cottage is just a mile from Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire. Prince Charles and Princess Diana used the hideaway for their honeymoon in 1981.
The Palace did not want to comment last night.
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