The King's Balmoral estate 'has no plans' to become wedding venue

The Queen's Building, which is set to be revamped, is just a few hundred yards from the main Royal castle (pictured)

The King's Balmoral estate has said it has no plans to stage commercial weddings despite submitting plans to expand events and functions in one of its buildings.

An application has been lodged to revamp the Queen's Building - a few hundred metres from the main Royal castle - to allow it to host up to 277 guests, feature live performances and music and serve alcohol up to 00:30.

Balmoral has been the Royal Family's Scottish holiday home since the 19th Century, and was where the late Queen Elizabeth spent her final days.

Various outlets, including BBC News, had suggested it could mean couples being able to get married on the site. But the Royal estate confirmed later that this was not the case.

It is understood Balmoral has, in fact, had an appropriate licence in place for more than 15 years to host weddings, events and functions should it wish but there are no plans to do so commercially.

The estate has been increasingly opened up to the public by King Charles, with visitor tours of the main castle - costing £100 a ticket - being launched in June.

Architects have lodged images of what the revamped Queen's Building would look like

Plans for the Queen's Building, which is currently used for visitors and as an event space for staff, have been lodged with Aberdeenshire Council.

They seek permission to convert the venue for “weddings, dinners, meetings and other events”.

The plans also insist music would be kept to a "low level" and that nobody would be disturbed.

Changes to the layout would include making use of an outdoor patio for a further 144 guests.

The King and Queen Camilla spend their summer holidays on the Birkhall estate, next to Balmoral

King Charles has continued the Royal Family tradition of spending his summer holidays at Balmoral, which sits on the banks of the River Dee.

But rather than staying in the main castle, the King and Queen Camilla prefer to stay at the neighbouring Birkhall estate which was once the favourite residence of the Queen Mother.