The gardens at Highgrove House, King Charles’s Gloucestershire home, have been open to the public since 1996.
According to Richard Williams, Learning Curator for The Royal Collection, the opening of the rooms at Holyroodhouse, which will include the Royal Breakfast Room, the Queen’s Dressing Room and the Sitting Room, is a major money spinner.
“What’s so special about the rooms at Holyroodhouse is that they give a totally new insight into the private lives of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. To see where they felt most comfortable when they were off duty gives us a real insight into them as people,” Williams said.
“The rooms look just as they were when the Queen and Prince Philip lived in them. In the Queen’s dressing room are three outfits that she wore during Royal Week. There’s a garden party outfit, an evening dress and a day dress from when she opened Scottish Parliament.
There’s a TV set in the front room and two settees facing each other. One of them has a small teddy bear in tartan which was the Queen’s favorite and always brought out and put in the same spot for the Queen when she stayed.”
Unlike the state rooms and apartments at Buckingham Palace, Holyroodhouse feels more like a home than a palace. “The paintings on the walls are not the old masters but contemporary Scottish paintings that the Queen and Duke acquired, so you get to see their personal taste in art,” added Williams.
According to the Royal Collection, tours of the private rooms at Holyroodhouse will run through September 10, 2026, and will take small groups behind the scenes.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.vanityfair.com ’
