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balmoral castle

Nestled in the green Scottish countryside, Balmoral Castle towers over the surrounding evergreens and open courtyards, a relic of a grander era, invoking daydreams of Cinderella or King Arthur

But rather than knights or dragons, it was not too long ago that a passerby might catch a glimpse of the 90-something Queen Mother Elizabeth, waist deep in a river, fishing in waders. It was at Balmoral that the queen would take a reprieve from the pressure of leading the strongest family in the United Kingdom and fishing was just one of her passions.


"Now it's one place where the royal family can all relax together and be a family and go on picnics together, go fishing together, have barbecue's together, and free from the interference from the outside world," William Shawcross who penned the new official royal biography, "The Queen Mother," told ABC News.


Granted unprecedented access to royal documents, including her private letters, Shawcross' behind-the-scenes research spanned the Queen Mother's 101-year life and captured a side of the royal rarely seen except by those who knew her best