THE royal family have been branded “out of touch” after Balmoral Castle launched an online shop selling upmarket products, including a tartan throw that will set you back almost £1000.
The shop has been launched as part of King Charles’s plans to make Balmoral more accessible to the public. He allowed public tours of the private residence in Aberdeenshire this summer for the first time at £100 a ticket, with visitors who wanted afternoon tea forced to fork out an extra £50.
Now admirers of the late Queen Elizabeth can enjoy shopping for products made using the newly-launched Balmoral hunting tartan, but they’ll need more than a bit of spare change.
Items include a £962 cashmere throw, a scarf priced at nearly £400, a shawl on sale for £140 and a lambswool hot water bottle costing £75.
The £962 throw is described as the “perfect gift for interiors lovers or simply as a special gift to yourself, this throw encapsulates the rich heritage and natural beauty of Balmoral Castle and Estate, offering a piece of Scottish legacy you can cherish for years to come”.
The most expensive item available is a £2050 hand-engraved crystal glass bowl, featuring a 3D image of the castle and the surrounding grounds.
Other high-end products include a deerskin zip-top backpack for £750, a thistle tall lamp for £365 and a Balmoral tweed wool throw for £285.
Tristan Grayford, of Scottish anti-monarchy group Our Republic, said these prices underscore “the continued disconnect” between the royals and the daily lives of the public and raises questions about their image as being “champions of charity”.
He told The National: “The Balmoral online shop’s launch highlights the royal family’s continued promotion of luxury products associated with their brand.
“Far from the monarchy's carefully crafted image of champions of charity, this shows themselves yet again profiting from their status - as if what they raked in from the public purse wasn't enough.
“At a time when many households are facing economic hardship, the launch of this exclusive, high-priced product line is extravagant and out of touch, serving as a reminder of the privileges attached to the monarchy.”
Balmoral was purchased for Queen Victoria by Prince Albert in 1852 and was widely thought to be Elizabeth’s favourite residence.
Other items in the shop include a range of luxury crockery, including a £150 tartan teapot, fine bone china plates priced at £69 each and matching cups embossed with Balmoral insignia at £39 each.
The shop also sells a Balmoral Hunting tartan tie costs £65, and a hair scrunchie for £25.
Adrian Swinscoe, of the Edinburgh branch of Republic, said: “These sorts of items and prices are indicative of how out of touch the monarchy are from the experience of the regular person on the high street.
“To charge nearly £1000 for a throw and think that that’s relevant to the normal person on the street, it’s just ridiculous. It just shows you how out of touch they are.”
It comes after the Channel 4 Dispatches programme revealed the King and the Prince of Wales’ private estates have struck rental deals worth millions of pounds with the armed forces, the NHS and state schools.
An investigation by the programme and the Sunday Times examined the land and properties the two leading royals own through the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall.
The investigation reported that last year the Duchy of Lancaster agreed a deal to store a new fleet of electric ambulances, owned by Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust in London, in one of the estate’s warehouses at a cost of £11.4 million over 15 years.
It also said the Duchy of Cornwall had charged the navy more than £1m since 2004 to build and use jetties and moor warships on the Cornish coastline.
The duchy will also earn around £600,000 over the lifetime of six different leases agreed with local state schools, the investigation found.
