Queen Elizabeth II’s private apartments at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh are to be opened to the public for the first time, marking the centenary of her birth. The Royal Collection Trust said the tours offer a rare glimpse into the personal 'lived-in' spaces used during private moments between official duties.
Visitors will see the Queen’s Dressing Room, where she prepared for engagements, and the Sitting Room, where she worked from her red boxes and watched horse racing on television. The suite, dating from the 17th century, includes the Royal Breakfast Room, where the Queen and Prince Philip dined privately at a circular table covered with a white linen cloth, surrounded by large Flemish tapestries from the 1650s.
The tours, running for 100 days, will be conducted in small groups with expert guides sharing the history of the rooms, used by successive monarchs since Queen Victoria’s reign. In the Sitting Room, the Queen worked from a small antique desk facing the central window, overlooking the gardens, and held private audiences. The room features two terracotta-coloured sofas facing each other across the fireplace, and a flat-screen TV for watching racing.
In the Dressing Room, three ensembles worn by the Queen in Edinburgh will be displayed. These include a purple coat and green dress worn for the opening of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, a beaded silk gown for a Commonwealth reception in 1997, and a white tweed coat worn to a garden party in 2017. The rooms also feature historic objects from the Royal Collection and personal items from the Queen and Prince Philip, including contemporary Scottish art collected by the duke.
Emma Stead, the palace’s curator, said: 'Queen Elizabeth II’s well-known love for Scotland will be given fresh context through this unique and special access to the private apartments, where visitors will enjoy a new perspective into both the formal and more intimate aspects of royal life.'
