Queen Mother's Garden Destroyed By Floods

5 January 2016

The Queen Mother's favourite garden at Prince Charles' Scottish home Birkhall has been destroyed by floods.

Prince Charles

The Prince of Wales has invested 14 years into restoring the gardens at his property in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

But after Storm Frank caused chaos in the UK, particularly in the north and Scotland, the majority of Birkhall's greenery has been washed away by floods.

The rest of it is underwater.

During a visit to the town of Ballater in Aberdeenshire last week, Charles told butcher John Sinclair that the garden had been "devastated" after the River Dee broke its banks following the storm.

While he added that the destroyed garden was "the least of his worries" and that his concerns lay with the people and businesses most affected by the floods, sources close to the royal said he has found the loss of the garden "personally distressing".

It was made more so by the fact that the garden was the favourite of Charles' grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth, when she used Birkhall as her summer residence.

A source close to the prince told the Telegraph newspaper: "All that work of the past 14 years or a lot of it is destroyed. A lot of repair work is needed.

"While it is personally distressing, it is the least of his concerns. The prince is being kept personally updated about flooding in the whole of the country and is looking at ways he can help both now and in the future."