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Bristol Post
Bristol Post
Entertainment
Zoe Forsey & Alexander Brock

Why Princess Beatrice had to reject the Queen's very expensive gift

The Queen is known to treat her loved ones to lavish gifts and that includes the recently married Princess Beatrice.

Back in 1997 the Monarch splashed out a huge sum for Birch Hall, a seven-bedroom Georgian mansion in Surrey which included a tennis court, swimming pool and a separate two-bedroom house.

Mirror Online reports that Beatrice and her sister Eugenie were aged just seven and nine at the time. However, they never moved in and the house stood empty for two years.

According to the Mail, their mum Sarah Ferguson reportedly refused to move in, saying she couldn't afford the huge running and upkeep costs.

The house was sold for £1.5million - but the house's value would dramatically increase over the years.

In 2016 it was sold again for a staggering £4.2million.

Speaking at the time of the second sale, Andrew Russell, from estate agents Strutt & Parker, told the Mail: "It is probably one of the very best of north Surrey's village houses, there's not many that come on the market.

"The house itself is a very attractive and imposing-looking property. Some of the rooms are really quite dramatic, with high ceilings and full floor to ceiling sash windows.

"Every summer the owners have opened up the gardens for a charity event with picnics and a live band, so the house is quite prominent in the village.

"The owners bought it from the trustees acting for the Queen in 1999. The trustees bought it in 1997 for the princesses and I imagine it was chosen because it's a pretty house in a popular village and the gardens are a real draw, it's more like parkland. But they never moved in."

Beatrice married her boyfriend Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in a secret lockdown wedding in Windsor last month.

The Queen and Prince Philip were among the small group of guests who were allowed to attend under the Covid 30-guest limit restrictions.

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