Balmo'ral,

Balmo'ral, a royal residence in Braemar, Aberdeenshire, 9 miles W. of Ballater, and 52½ of Aberdeen. Standing 926 feet above sea-level on a natural platform that slopes gently down from the base of Craig-gowan (1437 feet) to the margin of the river Dee, it commands a magnificent prospect on every side. In 1848 Prince Albert purchased the reversion of a 38 years' lease from the representatives of Sir Robert Gordon, who had held it under the Earl of Fife; and in 1852 he acquired the fee-simple of the estate from the Fife trustees for a sum of £32,000. The old castle not being sufficiently commodious for the royal family, Prince Albert erected a new one (1853–55) at a cost of £100,000 in the Scottish Baronial style of architecture. The castle consists of two separate blocks of building, united by wings, with a massive tower 35 feet square, rising to the height of 80 feet, and surmounted by a turret 20 feet higher. At a distance, the castle, which is built of granite, has a strong and imposing appearance, looking almost as if it had been hewn out of one huge rock of that material. The estate now includes Birkhall, Knock Castle ruins, and Loch Muick; and extending to the summit of Byron's 'dark Lochnagar,' it, with its deer-forest, comprises upwards of 25,000 acres.