The Queen has touched down in her private Scottish home at Balmoral for the start of her traditional summer break - continuing a trend of travelling north of the border during the hotter spells of the year.
Scotland has been a welcome place of sanctuary for the royal family since Queen Victoria's day, where they relax and enjoy country pursuits in the stunning setting of the Scottish Highlands. Her Majesty landed at Aberdeen Airport earlier on Thursday before making her way to the Aberdeenshire retreat in one of her beloved Range Rovers.
Her Maj is unlikely to be alone for very long as members of her family are invited to spend time with her at Balmoral every summer. A picture released following the Duke of Edinburgh's death in April last year showed the Queen and her late husband surrounded by their great grandchildren at their Scottish home.
Outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson may travel up to Aberdeenshire for the premier's annual visit to the monarch's Scottish home, if the new Conservative leader is not chosen by the time of the get-together.
Prime ministers are traditional invited to stay with the Queen at Balmoral and in the past Harold Wilson, who is said to have "got on like a house on fire" with the monarch, would join members of the royal family for riverside picnics on the estate.
But things were very different with Margaret Thatcher, who reportedly found the traditional September weekend at Balmoral painful.
One observer wrote: "A weekend in the country with aristocrats who enjoy riding, shooting, sports and games is Thatcher's idea of torture."
Mrs Thatcher could not abide the charades that she was expected to play after dinner at Balmoral - a fact that did not go unnoticed by Her Majesty.
During a gathering of six of her PMs, the Queen once joked about "the party games which some of you have so nobly endured at Balmoral".
Balmoral was struck by fire earlier this month after an abandoned campfire spread across the area, almost burning up an osprey nest.
The castle itself is open to the public until August 2 - with an exhibition on Life at Balmoral on display for visitors.
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