Palace event is fit for a queen

MARY Queen of Scots is to make a royal appearance at Linlithgow Palace this summer.

Historic Scotland is to run a re-creation of a summer visit by the Queen, with the chance to see how the royal residence would have been prepared for use by Her Majesty and her entourage.

The palace will open for A Queen's Progress on 4 and 22 July, and 8 and 21 August, with living history performers showing the extent of the preparations for the monarch's visit, and the pomp that surrounded her arrival.

The kitchens would have had to prepare feasts for the royal party, while servants prepared the apartments above with impressive furniture and hangings, and guards would check the palace defences to ensure the safety of the royals.

Sheena Garden, Historic Scotland interpretation manager, said: "The staff at royal residences like Linlithgow faced a huge task in preparing for the demands of a visit and stay by a royal party.

"Regal expectations were often incredibly high, and lowly staff working in majestic surroundings could often find themselves blamed for things being not exactly as the royal visitors and their guests expected and demanded."