On 8th September 1848, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert visited Balmoral for the first time.
Victoria and Albert began to visit Scotland soon after their marriage. Regular trips became part of their summer and they began to look for a Scottish retreat. Prince Albert negotiated a lease of Balmoral, with the couple arriving there for the first time on September 8th 1848.
Victoria loved the place instantly, writing in her diaries that night “It is a pretty little Castle, in the old Scotch style. The accompanying sketch I did from a little print I bought at Aberdeen. In front are a nice lawn & garden, with a high wooded hill behind, & at the back, there is a wood. The hills rise all around. One enters a nice little hall, & comes to a billiard room & Dining Room. A good broad staircase takes one upstairs & above the Dining room is our sitting room (formerly the Drawingroom) a fine large room opening into our bedroom”
Over the coming days, she wrote constantly of the charm and peace of the area, and it was clear the couple had found somewhere they wanted to call home. They began to negotiate the purchase of the whole estate but it took until 1852 to secure the deal.
But Victoria’s concerns over the size of the house prevailed and William Smith was commissioned to design and build a new castle near to the existing house. The queen and her husband, along with their expanding family, stayed in the old residence while the new one was constructed. Victoria laid the foundation stone of the new castle on September 28th 1853, noting in her diaries that ”I spread the mortar and the stone was lowered, when I struck it with the mallet and declared it well and truly laid. I also poured corn oil and wine upon the corner coppice and then we left.”
The new castle was ready by 1856 but whatever affection Victoria and Albert had for the original house on the site was put to one side. It was demolished as they made the new Balmoral their Scottish retreat.
Queen Victoria's Journal:
"We both slept very soundly & breakfasted early, disembarking at ½ p. 8. Vicky, Bertie & Affie went in the carriage with us. Proceeded through the town & principal streets of Aberdeen, which are very fine, & entirely built of granite, There is a bridge, over which we went, connecting the new & old Aberdeen, much the same as at Edinburgh. The streets were very crowded, but very well kept & the people very civil. Not far from Aberdeen, we came to what is called Deeside, driving alone the banks of the Dee, the scenery of which is very fine. The river winds beautifully, & there are high wooded hills, the river itself being full of stones & little rapids, like all Scotch rivers. Our 1rst change of horses was at Banchory, 18 miles, beyond Aberdeen, — quite a village, & 2ndly at Aboyne, 13 miles further on, with only one I am, where we got out & gave the Children something to eat. Ld & Ly Aboyne were there & staying at the Inn, the property belonging to them, & a number of his tenants went us on born back & rode some way with us. Ld Huntley was there himself. Now began the fine scenery & our could see Lochnagar, the highest mountain in their part of the country. The last place we changed horses, was at the small village of Ballater, the post town of Balmoral, which is 11 miles from there. We crossed the Dee, about 4 miles before getting to the Castle, & the scenery become prettier & prettier, & there is much agriculture & cultivation which gives a flourishing look to the country. There are very few cottages between Abergeldie & Balmoral, which we reached at ¼ to 3. It is a pretty little Castle, in the old Scotch style. The accompanying sketch I did from a little print I bought at Aberdeen. In front are a nice lawn & garden, with a high wooded hill behind, & at the back, there is a wood. The hills rise all around. One enters a nice little hall, & comes to a billiard room & Dining Room. A good broad staircase takes one upstairs & above the Dining room is our sitting room (formerly the Drawingroom) a fine large room opening into our bedroom, &c — The Children & Miss Hildyard live on the some floor, — the Ladies below, & the men upstairs. — We lunched directly & then walked up to the top of the wooded hill, opposite our windows, where there is a cairn, from which there is a pretty winding path. The view was beautiful, — below was the house, to the left or rather behind, were the fine range of hills near Lochnagar, & to the right, towards Ballater, the valley of the Dec, with the river winding along. It was so calm & so solitary as one gazed around, that it did one good & seemed to breather freedom & peace making one forget the world & it's sad turmoil. There were some slight showers, but nothing to signify. When we came down we walked along the Dec, which is behind the house. I come in, Albert was going to try his luck with some stags, which were lying quite close to the house, as they come down of an evening, — but he was not successful. — We dined with our party, including Anson."
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Citation:
RA VIC/MAIN/QVJ (W) 8th September 1848 (LORD ESHER'S TYPESCRIPTS) retrieved 6th September 2024
© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2012
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