Scottish Castles: Balmoral
Author: AngusMacLeod Total views: 4 Word Count: 604
Tourism is now one of Scotland's most important industries and each year more and more visitors spend time in the country for a multitude of reasons. While Edinburgh seems to have a festival for every week of the year but most visitors are most excited to visit the castle. At times Scotland appears to be a nation of castles (which is understandable when you consider it's turbulent past) and a great many are open to the public. Balmoral Castle is a 5 star visitor attraction at Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
In 1603, when the thrones of Scotland and England were united, it seemed as though the Royal Family lost all interest in Scotland in preference to it's richer, southern, neighbor. It was not until 1822 that interest was generated by the famous author Sir Walter Scott when he arranged a visit for King George IV. The "one and twenty daft days", as it became known, was full of pageantry which included many embellishments of Scott's romantic ideas of medieval Scotland.
Sir Walter Scott's novels included very romantic ideas about Scotland which proved extremely influential upon society of the day. Queen Victoria was keen to visit Scotland and in 1842 she and Prince Albert decided to stay on the Balmoral Estate where George IV had stayed twenty years previous. Built in 1390 it had belonged to number of earls through the decades, and, at one time, King Robert II of Scotland had had a hunting lodge there. Following favorable reports from their doctor, Sir James Clark, it was hired sight unseen.
Although the property in which they stayed in at Balmoral was rather small (it had rooms much smaller than those they were used to) the pair quickly fell in love with the place. They spent many vacations there taking country walks together and, in 1852, Prince Albert bought the whole estate for about 30,000.
Over the years the Royal Family grew and while Albert still managed to enjoy his shooting, and Victoria her country walks, it was apparent that the residence was becoming far too small to accommodate them. It was decided that a new residence was required which was to be designed by William Smith, and architect from Aberdeen, and named Balmoral Castle. The castle was built quickly and was completed in 1856.
Since then Balmoral Castle, and it's estate, has been the private property of the British Royal Family (meaning that it is not part of the royal estate). Today the castle and it's 50,000 acres and over 100 buildings is a fully working estate and the summer retreat of Queen Elizabeth II.
In 1861 Queen Victoria suffered the death of her husband Prince Albert. Deep in grief the Queen chose to isolate herself and chose to spend more time than ever at Balmoral Castle where she and him had been so happy together. In 1997 Balmoral also witnessed the grief of another royal, Queen Elizabeth II. Diana, Princess of Wales, had died in France and when the queen was told she decided, much to the consternation of her public, to remain there rather than returning to London, which most people had expected her to do.
The royal family of Great Britain can easily afford to take the finest vacations. Indeed they spend a great deal of time traveling the globe and maybe this is the reason why Scotland has always appeared to be a place of private refuge. The present royal family of Queen Elizabeth II often visit remote Scottish islands such as the Isle of Harris in the Western Isles but it is their association with the Balmoral estate which is most widely known.
My Articles Directory Free Web Content Provider
About the Author
If you are planning to visit Scotland then take a look at Harris Hotels and other Hebrides accommodation online at http://www.virtualhebrides.com/
Copy and Paste Article Code.
Remember: The article body, title, author bio and links may not be changed or removed. By publishing this article, you agree to all the terms in our Terms of Service.