The One With the Queen's House

At the end of the Royal Mile is The Palace of Holyroodhouse. Having served as a royal resident for more than 500 years, it is currently the official residence of the Queen in Scotland. Since she is only in residence once a year during the summer, the rest of the year the Palace is open to visitors.  The Palace is a quadrangle set around a central courtyard.  Pictures of the inside were not allowed, but I have scanned some of the pictures from the guide book.   (The above picture is a scanned postcard)

The origins of the Palace begin with the founding of an Augustinian abbey in 1128 by David I below an old volcanic mound known as Arthur’s Seat. The name may come form one of two sources: King David’s vision of a stag with a cross or “rood” between its antlers or from a fragment of the True Cross which had been brought to Scotland by David’s mother, Margaret.

From early on, the abbey contained rooms that were used by the king. By the time Edinburgh became the capitol of Scotland in the 15th century, the royal family preferred the abbey to the castle and James IV eventually decided to convert the royal lodgings into a palace. This may have been prompted by his upcoming marriage to Margaret Tudor, daughter of Henry VII. Although nothing survives of this early building, it appears it was of similar design and location to the present palace.

In 1528 James V began work on a rectangular tower with rounded corners. This is the oldest part of the palace still in existence. Subsequent Stuart monarchs resided in the Palace and over the courts of a number of years various improvements took place. But following the execution of Charles I in 1649, the Lord Protector Cromwell sought to impose Parliamentary control over Scotland and the Palace, used as barracks for Cromwell’s troops, was badly damaged by fire and poorly repaired.

When the monarchy was restored in 1660, Holyroodhouse again became a royal palace  and Charles II took particular interest in the renovation effort and tried to keep costs to a minimum.  A second tower was added to the front (to balance the one added by James V) and the current central entrance added with the Royal Arms of Scotland (used before 1603) above the door. 

Following the Act of Union in 1707, the palace provided apartments for some of the Scottish nobility and the palace gradually fell into disrepair. As the romantic fascination with Mary Queen of Scots grew towards the end of the 18th century, the palace became a tourist attraction with servants running a profitable side business giving tours.  Refurbishment of the interior on a small scale was done in 1822 when George IV visited (the first reigning monarch to visit Scotland since Charles I in 1633). Although he did not stay at the palace, he was given a private tour and indicated that the apartments of Mary, Queen of Scots (on the second floor of James V tower) should be preserved as they were.

The real renovation of the palace began under Queen Victoria and her frequent visits to the Palace ensured its future and also caused the public to want to visit, an endeavor that has been undertaken since 1854. During the early 20th century the Palace was recognized as the Sovereign’s official residence in Scotland

The Queen’s Gallery (above) was opened in 2002 to celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. Created out of the shell of a couple of buildings from the 1840s, it showcases changing exhibitions of art.

Converted into a reception room (from the Queen’s Guard Chamber) in 1800, it became a dining room towards the end of Queen Victoria’s reign and is still used as such today by the Queen and other members of the Royal Family.

Originally the King’s Guard Chamber, the now Throne Room was heavily renovated in 1822 when it was turned into the King’s Great Drawing Room for the visit of George IV. Further renovations were made 100 years later and the thrones of George V and Queen Mary added.

close up of thrones

The Morning Drawing Room.  Orignally Charles II's Privy Chamber, today the Queen uses the room for private audiences.  The tapestries, which tell the story of the hunting goddess, Diana, were purchased for Charles II and are absolutely stunning (as are all of the ones in the Palace). 

Charles II's Bedchamber.  The most lavishly decorated room in the Palace has beautiful plasterwork and decorative wood carvings.  From 1850 until his death in 1861, the room was used as Prince Albert's dressing room.

Close up of the "State Bed".  This was not actually the King's bed but was made for the Hereditary Keeper of the Palace in 1684.  The damask on the headboard, cornice and canopy is original; the curtains and bedcover were replaced in 1976.

Ceiling painting in the King's Bedchamber (Hercules admitted to Olympus by Jacob de Wet, c. 1675).

If you look carefully at the ceiling painting (in about the 1:00 position), you'll spot these two little dogs peering over the edge.  I don't know if they are King Charles spaniels or not but the dog person in me couldn't resist!

The Great Gallery is the largest room and is decorated with portraits of real and legendary kings of Scotland.  They were painted by Jacob de Wet between 1684 and 1686.  111 portraits were commissioned and in 1746, following the Jacobites victory at Falkirk, government troops were housed at the palace and badly damaged many of the portraits, especially the portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots.  By 1826, 96 of the portraits had been repaired. 

Mary, Queen of Scots bedchamber.  On the second floor of the James V Tower, these rooms were occupied by his daughter Mary from 1560 until 1567.  It was in the small turret room just off the bedchamber that the murder of her secretary, David Rizzio took place while he dined with the Queen.  The place where the murder took place is marked, but I didn't see any blood stains...

Detail of the oak ceiling in the bechamber - it dates from the mid 16th century.

Mary Queen of Scots Outer Chamber where Mary received visitors.  Today, it houses an extensive display of Stuart and Jacobite treasures including the Darnley Jewel and some embroidery attributed to Mary, creating during her years of captivity in England. 

After touring the palace rooms, we were on our way out when we noticed a small sign that said "Abbey" with an arrow pointing to one side.  Although we were wanting to get on the road (we had a 4 hour drive to our hotel for the night), we decided we would take a quick peek at whatever it was.  Boy were we glad we did. 

(this is what we saw when we came around the corner)

Tucked behind one side of the Palace are the ruins of the Abbey Church of Holyrood.  Although a simiple church probably existed here as early as 1128, much of the existing structure was built from 1195 to 1230.  The abbey was badly damaged in 1544 and the eastern part was demolished in 1570. 

In 1633, the east end was remodelled for the coronation of Charles I to include a large tracery window.  Fifty five years later, the abbey was damaged when it was ransacked by a mob.



 In 1758 an effort to strengthen the roof of the Abbey Church by placing stone slabs over the vaulting actually led to the roofs collapse 10 years later.  During the early 20^th century, funds were allocated for the re-roofing and restoration of the abbey but due to concern that the restoration would damage the historical structure, the abbey has remained a romantic ruin. 

In this simple vault are the remains of James II, James V and his first wife Madeleine of Valois, and possibly David II and Henry, Lord Darnley (for the last two the guidebook is a little unclear, although that were at least at one time buried here).  After the Reformation, a number of raids took place which disrupted the royal burial sites and in 1898 Queen Victoria ordered that all of the remains be collected and buried in one place.

At some point Chip decided to spend some time and take pictures of the large fountain in front of the Palace.  Installed in 1859 it contains a number of interesting and whimsical figures.  I've included a few below:

Since the Palace is at the bottom of the Royal Mile hill, we decided to  take a cab back to the hotel - it was probably the best 5 pounds we spent!! 

*All information from the guidebook

Cheers!