Revealed: The spooky Halloween presence lurking in the basements of BALMORAL! (And it’s not Prince Andrew…)

It’s often suggested that the royal palaces contain some pretty creepy residents, but there’s one that’s far creepier than most, according to a former royal butler.

Grant Harrol, etiquette expert and former butler to Prince Charles, believes the basement of Balmoral Castle is haunted by a giggling ghost and claims to have met it personally.

“I remember when I went to the basement, things were moving. You would have bowls and chairs that could move,” he said.

One of the Balmoral cellars had once been a well, where a young boy had met his demise…

King Charles pictured in a pensive mood earlier this year…

‘One day I went downstairs with a housekeeper, we turned off the lights and we heard a little boy giggling.

“It’s safe to say that ghosts haunt royal residences to this day.”

The legend among the staff at Balmoral is that the cellar had once been a well and that a boy had fallen there a century ago.

‘He unfortunately drowned and was buried in one of the local graveyards. Since then, stories have circulated that his ghost haunts the basement where the well used to be.

‘In the many homes and houses in which I have worked, things have happened that you cannot explain. I remember staying in a house in Scotland and working upstairs in one of the rooms.

‘I went out to get something from another room, I came back in and all the chairs were put on the table. I was the only one in the house. There have always been a lot of things like this happening from time to time.

‘I also remember staying in Highgrove one year and one of the police officers saw a ghostly figure walking around the grounds. Luckily I’ve never seen anything like it. I’m easily scared of things like that, so I try to stay away on Halloween.’

‘But Balmoral was said to have haunted haunts, as did the other properties. I was told that Queen Elizabeth was in the library one evening and one of the corgis sensed something around the curtains next to the window.

“I can’t imagine the late queen being phased though. But Sandringham was where her late father died, and I found Sandringham to be a creepy house.

‘It always felt a bit strange wandering around at night. It has a lot of history and there have been many royal deaths. George VI died there, as did George V and even the Duke of Clarence.

King Charles’ former royal butler Grant Harrol says a young ghost haunts the Scottish castle to this day

‘So it is not surprising that there have been paranormal sightings. I also worked with the King at the Castle of Mey in Scotland, and people said they saw ghosts there, and people often told ghost stories.

‘I haven’t seen anything myself, but it wouldn’t surprise me. The first night I stayed there, the staff hid a manikin behind my door to scare me – and it worked!

‘Personally I don’t think the late Queen would have believed in ghosts, but with King Charles you never know. He’s quite an open person, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he does.’

Younger royals are more likely to get into the spirit of the occasion.

In their 2022 Netflix documentary, Harry & Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex shared previously unseen photos as they partied with Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank on Halloween.

The Duchess previously revealed how she and the Duke went out incognito in Halloween costumes with his cousin and her then-boyfriend for one last night out before their relationship was revealed on the Ellen DeGeneres show.

In the blink of an eye, you can see Meghan and Harry coming together for a photo with Eugenie and Jack.

The Queen pictured in the drawing room of Balmoral in Scotland, shortly before she died

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle shared never-before-seen photos as they partied with Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank on Halloween in their new Netflix documentary

Harry, Meghan and Eugenie in creepy form

Of the 2016 event, she told Ellen, “He came to visit me in Toronto and our friends and his cousin Eugenie and now her husband Jack, they came too, and the four of us snuck out in Halloween costumes to just what to have. a fun night out on the town before word got out that we were a couple.

“It was a post-apocalypse theme, so we had really bizarre costumes, and we were able to have one last fun night out.”