{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Use British English|date=January 2018}} thumb|The lodge in 1985 '''Delnadamph Lodge''' was located on the Balmoral Estate about {{convert|8|miles}} north of the castle. The lodge and its estate lands were bought by Queen Elizabeth II for a figure believed to be around £750,000 in 1978.<ref name="TimesJan78">"The Queen buys grouse moor near Balmoral." ''The Times'', London, 6 January 1978: pg 3.</ref>{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}} The lodge was situated within a {{convert|6700|acre|adj=on}} estate located near the source of the River Don.<ref name="Honeycombe1981">{{cite book|author=Gordon Honeycombe|title=Royal wedding|url=https://archive.org/details/royalwedding00gord_0|url-access=registration|date=17 August 1981|publisher=Michael Joseph and Rainbird|isbn=978-0-7181-2088-7}}</ref> The estate was bought because Balmoral did not have adequate grouse shooting.<ref name="TimesJan78"/> It was given by the Queen to her eldest son, Charles, Prince of Wales, and his first wife, Diana, on their marriage, but Diana found the home uninviting and was not interested in repairing it. The original house was described as a "solid two-storey Victorian ten-bedroomed lodge" in 1981.<ref name="Honeycombe1981"/> It was never occupied and was gutted by 1987, and subsequently offered to the Royal Engineers for demolition practice.<ref name="TimesFeb87">"Army may pull down Balmoral mansion." ''The Times'', London, 4 February 1987: pg 5.</ref> The lodge was demolished in 1988 and only the offices remain.<ref>{{Historic Environment Scotland|cat=PLA |num=107629 |num2=NJ20NW 9 |desc=Delnadamph Lodge}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Royal palaces in the United Kingdom}}
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Category:Houses in Aberdeenshire Category:Royal residences in Scotland Category:Hunting lodges in Scotland Category:Elizabeth II Category:Buildings and structures demolished in 1988 Category:Demolished buildings and structures in Scotland
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