Meghan Markle took Prince Archie on 'secret holiday' instead of annual Balmoral trip

The customary tradition for the Royal Family to reside at Balmoral for the summer was shunned by Meghan Markle when she'd just given birth to Prince Archie. The Scottish Highlands estate was a firm favourite of the late Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles appears keen to continue the traditions associated with the summer getaway.

However, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry reportedly skipped the Balmoral break one year shortly after Prince Archie was born. Royal author, Tom Bower claimed in his explosive book about Meghan and Harry, called Revenge, that Meghan felt Archie was "too young at three months to travel by plane to Scotland".

But he was not entirely shunned from a summer holiday, as in August 2019, when Archie was just a few months old, reports claimed the royal duo flew with Archie to the Balearic island of Ibiza on a private plane with their security team, as reported in the Mirror and Spanish publications.

It later emerged they also travelled to Nice shortly after the trip, where they stayed at Elton John's private villa. Sir Elton is known to have an extensive list of A-list pals, which previously included the late Princess Diana, who died in 1997, and was described by the musician as one of his "dearest friends".

In Ibiza, they are believed to have stayed at the Vista Alegre, a residence facing the sea whose apartments are usually rented by A-listers such as DJ David Guetta and Sir Paul McCartney, according to The Sun.

Some of the most expensive villas at Vista Alegre come at approximately £20,000 a week, but the price of others available on enquiring can skyrocket to as much as £120,000 a week.

Locals who claimed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stayed at Vista Alegre said they noticed security measures dialling up ahead of their arrival.

One told The Sun: "The area has been built to a high specification and is a billionaires' playground so the security staff know what they are doing."

Balmoral Castle has taken on a new poignancy since the late Queen died there in September 2022 at the age of 96.

However, the King broke with tradition last year by not spending the summer at Balmoral Castle. Instead, Charles and Queen Camilla chose Birkhall as their main base, leaving Balmoral without a monarch physically in residence for the first time since the 19th century.

As reported in OK! Magazine, former BBC correspondent, Jennie Bond said the King might be looking forward to a peaceful summer this year after a "difficult few months", following King Charles and Princess Kate's cancer diagnoses.

She explained: "It's been one heck of a year for the Royal Family so far and nothing would please the King more than to have his close family gathered together in the peace of Balmoral for a time to take stock together, mark the passing of an incredibly difficult few months and look to the future."

She added: "Like Catherine herself has said, cancer treatment brings with it a large measure of uncertainty and that must extend to whether she is able to spend part of the summer holidays at Balmoral."