Holyroodhouse Palace

It’s situated at the end of the Royal Mile and it’s the Queen’s official residence in Scotland. The Palace was originally the Augustinian Abbey of Holyrood, and there is a legend about the founding of the Abbey.

In 1128, David I, was residing at Edinburgh Castle.  On September 14^th , after attending mass on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, he decided to go hunting against Alwin’s wish, an English Canon, who was the King's Secretary.

Near the north side of Salisbury Crag a stag turned on the King, threw him off his horse, and wounded him in the thigh. In self defense, the King attempted to grasp the stag's horns, and as he was doing so, a crucifix appeared between the antlers of the animal. The crucifix remained in the King's grasp while the stag departed. That night David heard a voice in a dream instructing him to build a monastery for Canons devoted to the Cross. The spring was then called the Spring of the Crucifix, and on the exact spot that this happened, the King gave the order for the building of the monastery of the Holy Rood and appointed Alwin its first Abbot. 

The abbey’s symbol is a stag’s head with its horns framing a rood or cross.

The abbey prospered. With Edinburgh now recognized as Scotland’s capital, her kings chose to live in Holyroodhouse surrounded by parkland rather than in the bleak castle.

In 1501 James IV (1488-1513) ordered to clear the grounds close to the Abbey and had a palace built for himself and his bride, Margaret Tudor (sister of Henry VIII). Today only a fragment of the gatehouse survives.

His successor James V added a massive tower between 1528 and 1532.  It was suggested that James made the changes in preparation for the arrival of his first wife, Madelaine (daughter of Francis I of France). His second wife, Mary of Guise was crowned in the Abbey and their daughter Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-1587) returned to Scotland after the death of her first husband Francis II, King of France.

Mary Queen of Scots spent most of her turbulent life in the palace. She married two of her husbands in the Abbey and her private secretary David Rizzio was murdered in her personal rooms by a group led by her husband Lord Darnley who thought she was having an affair with Rizzio.

The palace felt into decline under Mary’s son James VI who later became James I of England and Scotland.

In 1633 the palace was renovated for the coronation of James’s son Charles I.

During the civil war Cromwell’s troops were billeted at the palace which suffered extensive fire damage then.

With the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, Charles II initiated a rebuilding programme, adding a new royal apartment to the east. Also, he converted Abbey Church into the Royal Chapel and created accommodation on the second floor for the Court during the king’s residence and for officers of state in his absence.

Charles II never saw the new palace, his brother James, Duke of York who came to the throne as James VII adapted the Chapel so that Catholic services and the ceremony of the Order of the Thistle, Scotland’s ancient Order of Chivalry could be held there. He did not see the completed work for he was forced to flee the country; his daughter Mary and son-in-law William of Orange succeeded him to the throne.

After the Union of Parliaments at the beginning of the XVIII century, the palace was neglected.

In 1745 royalty returned when the Young Pretender Prince Charles Edward Stuart or Bonnie Prince Charlie held court there during his attempt to reclaim the throne for his father. He was followed by the Duke of Cumberland whose Hanoverian Troops suppressed the Jacobean Rebellion of 1745.

In 1768 the roof of the abbey collapsed and until the early XIX century no further renovations were made.

In 1822 King George IV made a state visit to Scotland and provided the money for the improvements. The king ordered to preserve Mary Queen of Scots’ apartments as they were.

It was Queen Victoria who, after her purchase of Balmoral Castle reintroduced the custom of staying at Holyroodhouse and her return to the palace made the Scottish people start an extensive programme of renovation and Holyroodhouse was reinstated as Scotland’s Royal Residence.

In the XX century King George V and Queen Mary continued restoration and renovation work on the palace which they regarded as a family home. Bathrooms, electricity and lifts were installed.

They began the tradition of Garden Parties being held at the palace, and today the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh entertain around 8,000 guests continuing in this way the tradition that King George V and Queen Mary had started.

The longest and largest room in the palace is the Great Gallery which is decorated with 89 of the original 110 Jacob de Wet portraits of the real and legendary kings of Scotland, this room is nowadays used for receptions and investitures.

Members of the Royal Family frequently stay in the palace when they have engagements in Scotland.

Why a visit to Holyroodhouse is so important?

Apart from the New Queen’s Gallery opened by her Majesty in 2002 which hosts a programme of different exhibitions of the Royal Collection, one can visit the State Apartments, the ruins of the Abbey and the grounds.

By Monica Loreto 

The abbey

Edinburgh Castle

The Castle and  Prince Street Gardens