Where do the Windsors like to get away from it all? Balmoral is the Queen’s top spot, but the rest of the family prefers more exotic destinations. The Weekly looks at how anyone can holiday like a royal.
The younger royals prefer to chill out at beach part destinations. Spain’s Ibiza was the sweet spot, but then Proncess Eugenie put Phuket’s Surin Beack on the celebrity map. The scene at Surin is upmarket boho chic.
But it’s The Strip in Las Vegas that’s caught Prince Harry’s eye. The Prince reportedly stayed at Las Vegas Boulevard in Wynn’s Room 2401, a $10,000 a night suit on the 63rd floor!
AFRICAN SAFARI The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge holiday in Kenya, East Africa. Kenya is a popular holiday destination for the royals and countless others the world over seeking a safari holiday. Prince William chose Mount Kenya, Africa’s second highest mountain, to propose to Catherine Middleton. The couple stayed in a log cabin at the Il Ngwesi Lodge on a wildlife reserve, where William worked during his gap year. Kenya is where Princess Elizabeth became Queen while holidaying at Treetops safari lodge, after her father George VI died unexpectedly in 1952.
HIGHLAND FLING The Queen holidays at Balmoral Castle Estate, Scotland. You don’t have to be a guest of the Queen to enjoy her favourite holiday home. Her Majesty spends August and September at her Highland retreat, but this leaves the summer months of June and July wide open for non-royal visitors. For $1300 a week, you can rent a cottage that sleeps five. And it’s just a few hundred metres from the Queen’s private domain. Once in residence, visitors can picnic on the Castle lawns, hire the Queen’s ghillie for some trout fishing, play a round of golf on the estate’s private nine-hole course or trek through the ancient Caledonian forests. Guided tours of the castle’s ballroom (where the Queen has danced many a Highland fling) are available, as are garden visits where you can take a peek through the windows of Garden Cottage, one of Queen Victoria’s favourite places to breakfast and write her diary. Don’t expect crystal chandeliers and marble bathrooms in the cottages. Like the Queen’s personal rooms, they are comfortably, but frugally furnished with a penchant for tartan and thistle pattern.
HEALTH RETREAT Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York holidays in Koh Samui, Thailand. As the world’s royals gathered en masse for the wedding of William and Catherine, the Duchess of York flew to a $540 a night health rainforest retreat on a tropical Thai island to recover from the royal snub of not being invited. She chose the Kamalaya Wellness Sanctuary and Holistic Spa on the idyllic island of Koh Samui in the Gulf of Thailand. Missing the wedding “was difficult,” she told Oprah. “I chose to be in Thailand … where the jungle embraced me.” The Duchess chose Kamalaya for its “life-enriching healthy treatments” and beautiful beachside location.
SKIING SPECTACULAR Prince Charles holidays at Klosters ski resort, Switzerland. Klosters has been Prince Charles favourite ski destination for more than 30 years and there’s even a gondola named after him. Both William and Harry learned to ski here. In 1988, Charles had a lucky escape when skiing with a friend, who was killed in an avalanche. It was rumoured the Prince would never return, but the charms of his favourite resort have drawn him back year after year.
BEACH PARTY Princess Eugenie holidays in Phuket, Thailand. The younger royals prefer to chill out on beach party holidays. Spain’s Ibeza was the sweet spot, but then Princess Eugenie and Kate Moss put Phuket’s Surin Beach on the celebrity map. The scene at Surin is upmarket boho chic. This is Phuket’s most beautiful bay, where the Andaman Sea glistens emerald jade. By day, all is quiet and languid. But when the sun dips, the music rips as the bright young things fill the shack-style cafes selling tapas and martinis on tables in the sand. Down the coast at Patong Beach, the revellers party hard, but at Surin the scene is a tad more sophisticated. Phuket is known as Thailand’s luxury resort island. Even so, you can slum it, as did Eugenie, who is seventh in line to the throne, when she stayed at a $30 a night hostel with a girlfriend.
SAIL IN STYLE Prince Andrew holidays in Corsica and Sardinia. Known in court circles as “Air Miles Andy” for his love of travel, this is a prince never happier than when he’s holidaying on a yacht. He spent his honeymoon with Fergie sailing around the Azores on the royal yacht, Britannia, and recently joined the Queen on a family cruise around the western isles of Scotland. But the prince’s particular preference is relaxing on deluxe sailing boats – the bigger, the better. He’s been snapped many a time on the Mediterranean soaking up the sun, drink in hand, on a sleek super-yacht, such as that cruise with the mystery brunette around the coast of Corsica on the 50-metre, Nafisa, owned by a Saudi billionaire. The views on such a cruise are spectacular – crescent beaches of golden sand, rugged limestone cliffs, sapphire grottos, rustic fishing villages and ramshackle forts. After a day’s sailing, yachties either moor at a picturesque harbour for dinner, or sail into a sheltered bay for a barbecue on the beach.
DESERT STRIP Prince Harry holidays in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Strip in Las Vegas is the best known gambling mecca in the world and on a recent visit, Prince Harry took the name quite literally by baring almost all when playing strip pool at the Wynn Las Vegas casino resort. Harry stayed above the casino-studded Las Vegas Boulevard in Wynn’s Room 2401, a $10,000 a night suite on the 63rd floor, stripping in a private gaming suite with a bevy of American beauties late one night.
CARIBBEAN CALYSPSO Princess Margaret holidays at Mustique in the Caribbean. Princess Margaret saw her holiday house on Mustique as a home away from Kensington Palace, her London home, and a refuge from her royal duties. Given a parcel of land as a wedding present, the Princess built a five-bed villa called Les Jolies Eaux (Pretty Water) on this idyllic Caribbean island. Mustique is one of the 32 St Vincent and Grenadine islands that’s also a favourite of William and Catherine. Rock royalty, including Mick Jagger and David Bowie, have holiday homes here, and when William and Catherine visited in 2008, Mick Jagger sang Brown Sugar for them at one of the island’s bars. Today, Les Jolies Eaux, which boasts a private beach, infinity pool and gorgeous ocean views, can be rented from $2850 a night.
