Although the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are not expected to join the royals in Scotland, Prince Harry shared memories from Balmoral in his book, Spare, released in January 2023, including a rather gruesome tradition.
At the age of 15, Harry recounted his experience of stalking and killing his first deer on the Scottish estate, describing the ritual of his first ‘blooding’—an informal initiation ceremony where the face of the hunter is smeared with the blood of their first kill.
The Duke recalled how his guide, a man named Sandy, pushed his head into the animal’s carcass after Harry had shot the deer.
“I tried to pull away, but Sandy pushed me deeper,” Harry wrote. “I was shocked by his insane strength. And by the infernal smell. My breakfast jumped up from my stomach.”
The young Prince was told to let the blood dry on his face but later said he felt he had “been good to nature”.
“Managing their numbers meant saving the deer population as a whole, ensuring they’d have enough food for winter,” Harry said. “Finally, I’d been good to the community. A big stag in the larder meant plenty of good meat for those living around Balmoral. These virtues had been preached to me from an early age, but now I’d lived them, and felt them on my face. I wasn’t religious, but this ‘blood facial’ was, to me, baptismal.”
The royal family’s passion for hunting has been a tradition for centuries, including at Balmoral and during the annual Boxing Day shoot at Sandringham.
However, in September 2023, it was announced that the royals are no longer permitted to hunt, deer stalk, or fish at the historic Abergeldie Estate near Balmoral, marking the end of over 170 years of tradition.
