Exclusive: Former Queen’s Butler Reveals Secret Royal Rituals for Her Memorial Day!

It will be two years this Sunday since Queen Elizabeth died aged 96 at Balmoral, which was a special place for her, and the Royal Family will remember the UK’s longest reigning monarch this weekend at the same Scottish location, said Paul Burrell‌.

He believes the family “will all be there” in private, and will likely mark the occasion by “having a dinner in memory” of the late Queen, where King Charles III will make a toast. He adds that royal fans will see them go to church on Sunday in what will be a “sombre” and “poignant” time for the royals.

‌Mr Burrell pointed to how important Balmoral was for the Queen. “The 8th of September will be that day we all have, we will all remember the Queen, and I think it was so perfect that she did pass at Balmoral, the place where she loved raising her family with Prince Philip, and they had such happy times,” he said.

“I think they will probably have a dinner in memory of the Queen, and her son, King Charles III, will make a toast, because [the fact she reigned] for 70 years just can’t go unmarked. I think the family will all be there to mark it in private.”

Mr Burrell, speaking on behalf of Slingo, said: “I think (this year in Balmoral will be particularly poignant for Charles) because it’s two years into being king, two years since his mother died. Balmoral is a very poignant place, because time stands still and our dear Queen casts a long shadow over everything. Especially for the family, and especially Balmoral because she was a larger than life presence that filled Balmoral castle. I bet they see her around every corner, and remember the things that she did. They’ll remember everything that she did within the castle because she loved Balmoral.”

Balmoral was also a very private place for the Queen where she could escape the public glare but that has now changed under Charles. “Now it’s open to the public, [the Queen’s] last bastion has gone, and now every royal residence really is open to the public,” said Mr Burrell. “The Queen resisted and resisted all her life and said, ‘No, it’s the only corner I have left, that’s mine’, but now that’s gone, and we’ve moved on to another generation. Time moves on, but the places stand still.”

Mr Burrell also shed a light on the impact of the Queen’s death on Anne. “(It) affected Anne greatly, being the only daughter, and she’s carrying her mother’s mantle in many ways, very stoic, hard working, dedicated to the country,” he said. “Anne is the best Queen we never had, because she is very much like Prince Philip, obviously has his mannerisms and his ways, but has her mother’s heart, and that’s why she works so hard and doesn’t ask for anything in return, because that’s her job, and she understands it.”

Balmoral will always be remembered in relation to the Queen and is where “time stands still”, said the royal butler. “That’s the generational thing, is that there’s always a one event that you remember where you were, because in my generation, it’s ‘Where you were when you heard Diana died?’,” he said.

“The generation before it was ‘Where were you when you heard Kennedy had been shot?’ Now, it’s ‘Where were you when you heard the news that the Queen had died?’. For 70 years, she was monarch. Her 70 years reign ended at Balmoral, two years ago, and that’s why Balmoral is still so special in the royals’ world, because Balmoral was close to the Queen’s heart.

“As I said, her shadow is a very long one, even in death, I think Balmoral might as well be bigger than Brigadoon, because time stands still. Here, this special place is remembered as the Queen’s home, and two years on, the Royals will be thinking about that. Of course they will, and they’ll go to church, and they’ll all think about their mother, their grandmother, their aunt, or their queen. And it didn’t just affect the royal family, it affected the country and all the people that worked on the estate who loved her. So it’s a very sombre, poignant time and it will be for many years to come.”