The Palace of Holyroodhouse, the official residence in Scotland of Her Majesty the Queen, stands at the end of Edinburgh's Royal Mile aganist the spectacular backdrop of Arthur's Seat. This fine baroque palace is closely associated with Scotland's rich history.

 

Today the Royal Apartments are used by the Queen for State ceremonies and official enteraning. they are finely decorated with works of art from the Royal Collection.

The Palace is perhaps best known as the home of Mary, Queen of Scots and was the setting for the many dramatic episodes in her short and turbulent reign. Mary was twice married in the adjacent 12th- century abbey, now a romantic ruin. She witnessed the brutal murder of her secretary, Rizzio, by her jealous second husband, Lord Darnley, in her private apartments at Holyrood.

Mary, Queen of Scots Chambers are housed in the Palace's west corner tower and are approached up a small winding staircase. These intimate rooms were home to Mary following her return from France in 1561. Her bedchamber has been described as most famous room in Scotland.

The State Apartments are renowned for their fine plasterwork ceilings and the unrivalled collection of Brussels tapestries. One of thr most popular rooms in the Palace is the Great Gallery, hung with Jacob de Wet's portraits of the real and legendary kings of Scotland from Fergus I to Charles II.

The room has served many purposes. It was used for the election of Scotland representative peers after the Union of Parliaments in 1707. King George V made it into the State Dining Room, and today it is used for receptions, State occasions and Investitures.

During the 1745 Jacobite uprising, the Palace served briefly as the headquarters of Bonnie Prince Charlie. After the Batle of Culloden in 1746, the Prince returned to exile with many of the heads of the old Scottish clans.

 

 

 

According to legend, King David I founded the Abbey at Holyrood in 1128 on the very spot where he had a vision of a stag with a cross between its antlers. Despite being the burial place of several Scottish Kings and the site of the coronation of Charles I in 1633, the Abbey was abandoned after the roof collasped in 1768.

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