Queen Elizabeth makes secret upgrade at Balmoral home amid health struggles

Queen Elizabeth has reportedly engineered some major updates at her Balmoral estate as the royal family descends on the Scottish Highlands this week for Holyrood Week following her Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

According to Hello magazine, the 96-year-old monarch, who has been experiencing some mobility issues coupled with her declining health, has reportedly installed a £20,000 wheelchair lift at the Craigowan Lodge in Balmoral.

For the unversed, the Queen arrived at her royal Scottish home on Monday, June 27, with other her children Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Edward as well as his wife Sophie, Countess of Wessex. Prince Andrew was notably missing.

Meanwhile, the secret upgrade was made at Craigowan Lodge especially as it is known to be one of the Queen Elizabeth’s favourite cottages within Balmoral grounds.

This comes months after The Sun reported in March that the monarch had increased security around her Balmoral home, with plans to install a new security gate, new CCTV cameras, as well as a state-of-art intercom system.