Braemar Gathering 2019
The Queen stepped out alongside daughter-in-law and granddaughter-in-law, Camilla and Autumn, for he annual Braemar gathering in Scotland. The event is regularly attended by the Royals as it is close to Balmoral, where the Queen spends her summer holiday.
The Braemar gathering has a nearly nine hundred year history and has existed in its current capacity since Queen Victoria. The event showcases the very best of Scottish culture and include traditional events like tug of war, hammer throwing and tossing the caber. The Queen is patron of the event and awards trophies to the winners in her role as 'chieftan'.
This year the Duchess of Cornwall and Autumn Phillips attended the gathering with their husbands and sat alongside the Queen to watch the events. While Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall is a regular at many Royal events (given that her husband is the heir to the throne and she is a full time working royal) Autumn Phillips is seen out in public far less often.
Phillips attends family gatherings such as holiday services, trooping the colour, and weddings but operates as a private citizen much of the time. Her two daughter, Savannah and Isla Phillips are often seen laughing and playing with the Cambridge children (Savannah and Prince George stole the show at the 2018 Trooping the Colour with their antics).
The Queen spends her summer holiday every year at Balmoral Castle and invites her entire family up Aberdeenshire to visit. The Queen has welcomed several of her children and grandchildren already this year including the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children, The Earl and Countess of Wessex and their children, Princess Anne and The Phillips family.
The Queen's love for Balmoral is well documented and it has been a long standing tradition for the Royals to spend some time there every summer. The Queen typically returns from her summer holiday towards the end of September but it is possible she will extend her trip this year since she delayed going until after meeting with her 14th prime minister, Boris Johnson, earlier this summer.
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