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Marie Claire
Marie Claire
Lifestyle
Kristin Contino

Exclusive: Former Royal Butler Shares How "Giggling Schoolchildren" Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret Protected a Special Treat at Balmoral

A black and white photo of Princess Margaret and Queen Elizabeth as children riding in a carriage wearing matching berets and coats.

For Queen Elizabeth, Balmoral was a place where she could truly decompress and live a more "normal" life. The Royal Family's beloved Scottish estate—where The King and Queen Camilla continue to enjoy summer holidays—provided her a welcome retreat from life in London, and former royal butler Paul Burrell tells Marie Claire that the late Queen especially loved spending time with her sister, Princess Margaret, in Scotland.

Burrell worked as a footman for Queen Elizabeth for 11 years before joining Prince Charles and Princess Diana's household as a butler in 1987, and he has fond memories of the late monarch's trips to Balmoral with her sister. Speaking on behalf of Casino.org, Burrell recalls watching "The Queen in her head scarf and kilt with her walking shoes on, surrounded by nine corgis stomping through the heather of Balmoral with her sister, Princess Margaret."

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