Keir Starmer at Balmoral: King Charles hosts prime minister at castle

Her love for the castle, which sits on a 50,000-acre country estate in Aberdeenshire, was well known.

It is a working estate, including grouse moors, forestry and farmland, as well as managed herds of deer, Highland cattle, and ponies.

The late monarch’s long reign meant she hosted a number of prime ministers at Balmoral, including Mr Wilson, Sir Edward Heath, David Cameron, Baroness Thatcher and Theresa May.

It was also where she appointed her 15th and final prime minister, Liz Truss, two days before her death in 2022.

Mrs May once shared a story about a picnic that had taken place during one of her stays at Balmoral while prime minister.

She explained how she had dropped some cheese on the floor and, hoping no-one had seen, put it back on a plate.

“I turned around to see that my every move had been watched very carefully by Her Majesty the Queen,” Mrs May recalled of the moment. “I looked at her, she looked at me and she just smiled.”

Little detail about Sir Keir’s visit to Balmoral has been shared by either No 10 or the Royal Family.

The trips tend to take place shortly before MPs return from their summer recess – with this year’s recess due to end on Monday.

When Parliament is sitting, the King and prime minister meet for a private weekly audience to discuss government matters.

While the King is politically neutral, he is, according to the Royal Family’s website, “able to ‘advise and warn’ his ministers – including his prime minister – when necessary”.