Why Balmoral, the late Queen’s favorite home, attracts mixed reviews for its wild tartan decor
This July, the royal family welcomed guests inside Balmoral Castle for the first time since its completion more than 150 years ago. For generations, Balmoral has been where the Windsors gather for family reunions every summer. Queen Elizabeth II, who died in the castle in 2022, took that into consideration Her favorite getaway. It’s also famous for being where things happen Crown is called “Balmoral Test”, ritual bullying for politicians and newcomers to the family. In total, more than 1,300 people had the opportunity to visit the Scottish seaside castle over the course of two weeks.
Perhaps this opportunity for exclusivity is enough to offset the common complaint that the house, adorned with antique tapestries, has some oddities. (Even current visitor business managers call it “very homely.”) The house’s décor has changed little since Queen Victoria and Prince Albert built the castle in the 1850s, and its Scottish character seems at odds with modern tastes. But it seems that distaste for Balmoral’s interior stems from the beginning. In his new book, Power and Glory: Life in an English Country House Before the Great War, author Adrian Tinniswood indicates that the first visitors, including the politician Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, hated the castle’s interior.
Tinniswood writes: “Queen Victoria rarely stayed with one of her subjects after Albert’s death in 1861. But she regularly spent time at her country houses: Osborne, on the Isle of Wight and Balmoral”. “Both were furnished and decorated to her own taste as well as the taste of her husband, who created them. It is not shared by everyone: Lord Rosebery famously said that he thought the drawing room at Osborne was the ugliest room in the world until he saw the drawing room at Balmoral.”
When Victoria and Albert decorated the castle after construction ended in 1856, they were determined to put their own stamp on it, designing new striped patterns for use on carpets, furniture, curtains and bedspreads around the house, often choosing multiple patterns in one style. single room. “Everyday critics of ‘Balmoral’ might claim that the Highlander’s costumes and decorations had been overworked by the new owners,” journalist Ivor Brown wrote in his 1955 book. Balmoral: The History of a House. “The new Balmoral panels are spread from the linoleum to the roofs of the rooms.” Even Victoria’s friends were unimpressed. Lady Augusta Stanley, one of the queen’s ladies-in-waiting, later wrote that tartan was “very characteristic and suitable but not exactly the same.” flattery into the eyes.”
However, Brown notes that the introduction of yarn and mechanized weaving into Scottish looms made the crazy plaid trend a popular trend. “Queen Victoria was not the first person to be infected with Tartanitis,” he quipped. She won’t be the last either. Throughout her reign, Queen Elizabeth II has continued family traditions and donned the dress Balmoral Tartan is specially designed (black, red and lavender on a gray background) as she spends the summer at home.
But even Elizabeth has her limits when it comes to plaid madness. On September 6, 2022She has already welcomed the prime minister Liz Truss to the castle drawing room for a meeting her last official engagement. The resulting photo shows how much the famous drawing room has shrunk since Victorian times. Instead of the striped upholstery and flooring that Lord Rosebery disliked, the drawing room was decorated in a (relatively) glamorous navy blue. However, after the beginning of his reign, King Charles III redecoraterestore the Hunting Stewart blue and red striped carpet to its former glory.
