Due to a timetable clash this year, the Monarch was in Scotland earlier than usual for the Commonwealth Games, meaning tourists were still wandering around her summer residence before it closed at the end of July.
Following her visit to the Glasgow Games, the Queen moved into the seven-bedroom Craigowan Lodge on the 50,000 acre estate instead, which is about a mile away from the castle.
Balmoral has recorded the highest number of visitors in five years after the Queen moved out to give tourists free rein of the house.
The boost in numbers means tourist revenue now accounts for around half of the £3 million running costs of the castle.
The total number of visitors edged past 70,000, an increase of five per cent on last summer and nearly a record for the Royal retreat. Some 40 per cent of the tourists came from overseas, underlining the foreign attraction of the British Monarchy. Click link for full post from The Telegraph.