Royal visit that proved to be truly fruitful
IT MUST have been something of a challenge, managing the financial affairs of the Queen Mother. Such was her love of the good life, the Daily Mail reported at the time of her death in 2002 the veteran Royal’s debts were around the £7 million mark. Looking after her budget was a task which fell to Sir Ralph (Hugo) Anstruther, Treasurer to the Queen Mother and Equerry to her at Clarence House in London.
His home was at Watten Mains, only 13 miles from her Scottish residence, the Castle of Mey in Caithness.
He served the Queen Mother loyally from 1959 to 1998 and she was a frequent visitor to his home, which is now for sale at offers over £2 million.
Present owner Beverley Hymers is proud of the Royal connection and says it makes her feel ‘a bit special’.
Mrs Hymers adds: ‘She would come over and visit him and they would go down for picnics at the loch.
‘In the house, protocol would determine that while Ralph and the Queen Mother would sit in the drawing room, the staff would wait in the sitting room on the other side of the hall.’
There’s nothing left to show of the Royal visits now. Sir Ralph, an Old Etonian and war hero who was awarded the Military Cross in 1943 for service in the Army in North Africa, died 15 years ago and the house changed hands.
Mrs Hymers says the only connection to the Castle of Mey lies in the garden, where the raspberry and blackcurrant fruit patch impressed the Queen Mother so much, it was replicated in the grounds of her home.
Watten Mains House is category B listed and sits in an elevated south-facing position with views over the property’s 618-acre farm and its private driveway. It lies approximately eight miles west of Wick, in the heart of the Caithness farming country.
The house dates from 1763, an attractive stone-built property of traditional design. The accommodation is laid out over three storeys in an L-shaped plan.
There are three reception rooms, seven bedrooms – one en suite – and three bathrooms. The owners have installed showers in the bathrooms and the renovated kitchen comes with an Aga.
A number of fine original features survive, including cornicing, flagstone floors, decorative wooden stair spindles, sash and case astragal windows and timber panelling.
The house is also positioned centrally within mature gardens, ensuring maximum privacy. There is hedging to the front of the property, while the remaining three sides are protected by deciduous woods.
The farm is used for wintering sheep, growing barley for whisky and oats for milling. There is seasonal rough shooting for mixed game, and roe deer stalking.
Offers over £2 million to Euan MacCrimmon at Strutt & Parker, Inverness. Tel 01463 719171 or email euan.maccrimmon@struttandparker.com.