The official name of Hollyrood Palace is Palace of Hollyrood House. It is located in Edinburgh. It is the official residence of the British Monarch when they are in Scotland. Queen Elizabeth spends a week there in the summer to conduct official business. We toured the grounds on a visit to the beautiful city of Edinburgh. We got to see the royal apartments, including the habitat of Mary, Queen of Scots (so tiny the place she was kept, I would have gone nuts). To the left, you can see the remains of the Abbey which must have been incredibly beautiful at some point but after being looted and burned in the 1544, it was left in ruins with only one nave surviving.
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Hollyrood palace has a long and very interesting history which we listened to via headsets once you pay the admission price which was roughly $11. I really enjoyed finding out tidbits about the palace such as:
- James II who was the King of Scots from 1437-1460 was not only born at Hollyrood, he was crowned, married and buried there. He also did kill an Earl during his reign though, so he wasn’t all great.
- Oliver Cromwell’s soldiers set the palace on fire in 1650. It’s not certain if it was accidental or not. The surviving areas were then used as barracks.
- Bonnie Prince Charlie, known for his unsuccessful attempt to restore his family to the British throne in the Jacobite uprising, held his court at Hollyrood for a total of five weeks in 1745.
- George IV propelled Hollyrood palace into keeping up with the times by installing central heating and light in 1911, after remodeling the bathrooms and kitchens.
- Hollyrood palace was officially made the royal residence of the British monarch in the 1920’s and official ceremonies and state events held there.
- While the Queen is in residence, the Scottish variant of the Royal Standard of the United Kingdom flag is flown, at all other times the Royal Banner of Scotland is displayed.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this image capture from Scotland. It is part of an ongoing series of travel images.
Neat! So exciting that you got to see it. I have Scots-Irish ancestors, I’ve discovered, so I am curious about Scotland.
Nice! Your ancestry is quite fascinating. We loved finding out about the history of the palace and the other places we visited.
I just love hearing all the history behind the places. It makes you really want to know what it looked like back in the days of old…
I too wondered how it might have looked in the past..especially with the Scottish weather. It must have been something….and so, so cold :-).
Beautiful! I’d love to visit Scotland.
I agree with you. It is quite beautiful :-).