The Castle of Mey is the family’s northernmost home (Image: PA)
Whilst the Royal Family may have an impressive portfolio of homes around the country, there is one estate which was bought for a shockingly low price.
The Castle of Mey, or as Princess Margaret reportedly called it “Mummys drafty castle”, is the family’s northernmost home and is located in Caithness, on the north coast of Scotland.
It was built between 1566 and 1572 on the lands of Mey which belonged to the Bishops of Caithness and it’s a four-and-a-half-hour journey from Balmoral Castle.
The estate has never been lived in full-time but it has frequently been used as a summer home for the King and Queen when they were still Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall.
And the circumstances around its purchase were featured in The Crown series on Netflix.
The castle has been used as a summer home for the King and Queen (Image: PA)
The property was almost derelict when it was purchased by Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother in 1952, following the death of her husband King George VI on February 6 of the same year.
Some say the former Queen was given the estate for free or that she paid £1, while others suggest she paid up to £100 (£2,951.53 today).
The Queen Mother used her own funds to bring the castle up to date by adding electricity and freshwater supplies.
Upon its completion, she reinstated the original name from Barrogill Castle – as it was then known – to The Castle of Mey.
The Queen Mother usually visited the castle in August and October from 1955 until her final visit October 2001, before her death in March 2002.
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