Prince William and Princess Kate's children 'building their own happy memories' in Scotland
The Prince and Princess of Wales enjoyed their annual summer trip to Balmoral with the King and Queen last weekend, as they were pictured attending the Sunday morning church service at Crathie Kirk.
Scotland is a very special place to Prince William and Kate, as the couple first met as students at the University of St Andrews.
After graduating from university, William and Kate have made regular visits to the Highlands together, before their marriage in 2011 and for public engagements, as well as the traditional summer holiday at Balmoral.
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The Prince and Princess of Wales's three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis have been going to Scotland since they were babies, with Kensington Palace sharing Kate's personal photographs of the young royals with the late Queen Elizabeth II and the late Duke of Edinburgh following their respective deaths.
And in 2021, William shared that George, Charlotte and Louis are "already starting to build their own happy memories" in Scotland.
The Prince delivered a bittersweet opening address at the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, saying: "Scotland is a source of some of my happiest memories but also my saddest.
"I was in Balmoral when I was told that my mother had died. Still in shock, I found sanctuary in the service at Crathie Kirk that very morning and in the dark days of grief that followed I found comfort and solace in the Scottish outdoors. As a result, the connection I feel to Scotland will forever run deep.
"Alongside this painful memory is one of great joy because it was here in Scotland 20 years ago this year that I first met Catherine. Needless to say, the town where you meet your future wife holds a very special place in your heart.
"George, Charlotte and Louis already know how dear Scotland is to both of us and they are starting to build their own happy memories here too."
Family reunion
The Wales children are often joined by their cousins at Balmoral, including Mike and Zara Tindall's children – Mia, Lena and Lucas, and Peter Phillips' daughters, Savannah and Isla Phillips.
Prince William and Prince Harry have both recalled their own happy memories of being in the Highlands with their royal relatives. Speaking on Mike Tindall's The Good, The Bad & The Rugby podcast in 2023, the Princess Royal said she would race her nephew William around the Scottish Castle, with the Prince adding that his aunt was "quite quick" and the "look that [she] had on [her] face was quite terrifying".
Meanwhile, Harry wrote in his memoir, Spare: "To me, Balmoral was always simply Paradise. A cross between Disney World and some sacred Druid grove. I was always too busy fishing, shooting, running up and down 'the hill' to notice anything off about the feng shui of the old castle."
George, Charlotte and Louis also have the run of their grandpa Charles' Birkhall property, which features a Wendy House and a bridge.
The King also transformed an arboretum in the gardens of his Scottish property and named it after his eldest grandchild.
"This was a rather empty field that the farm didn't need anymore," he told the BBC in 2021. "The great thing was that I managed to plant it the same year that my grandson was born, the eldest, George, so I thought I'd call it Prince George's wood."
