Victoriana Suites

An innovator and reformer, Prince Albert was the husband of Queen Victoria and a keen patron of the arts. A warm, masculine, and characterful space facing Braemar Church, the Prince Albert suite features walls lined in blue floral wallpaper designed in the mid-19th century, deep navy woodwork, and Highland landscape paintings in oil and watercolour.

Queen Victoria was always devoted to her dogs. An early favourite was her King Charles spaniel, Dash, and from 1864 she enjoyed the companionship of a collie, Sharp. Playful and expressive, he was captured in a number of portraits, some of which are displayed in the Sharp the Dog suite, alongside William Morris’s ‘Brer Rabbit’ wallpaper and a statue of a collie.

The Tsarina suite is dedicated to Queen Victoria’s granddaughter, Princess Alexandra Feodorovna, who became Empress of Russia after her marriage to Tsar Nicholas II. She spent many weeks at Balmoral in her childhood and the suite pairs Highland style with a touch of Russian imperial opulence, with its collection of perfume bottles and crystal glassware.

The Highlander suite explores the heritage patterns and textiles of Scotland. The kilt itself, which emerged in its ‘modern’ form in the 18th century, is a key source of inspiration, alongside the Fife Arms tartan designed by Araminta Campbell. Tartan curtains and brocade walls are joined by a basket-hilt sword created by a local craftsman and a series of Highland portaits.

The German Emperor suite is named in honour of a former guest of the Fife Arms, Frederick III of Prussia. Also known simply as ‘Fritz’, he fell in love with Victoria, Princess Royal, and they were betrothed at Balmoral in 1855. An arresting portrait of the King of Prussia hangs beside the bed, framed by scrollwork wallpaper in green and gold and elegant landscape paintings.

Edward VII reigned for nine years after Victoria and is known as a dandy and connoisseur. Despite his reputation as a hedonist, he was a relatively popular monarch who enjoyed fashion, interiors, and the arts. The King Edward VII suite evokes this sumptuous individuality, with Arts and Crafts wallpaper, a tulipwood half-tester bed, and a Victorian chaise longue.

The Scottish heraldic tradition is unique, dating back to the fourteenth century and the era of Robert the Bruce. The Coat of Arms suite celebrates this grand tradition with an extensive collection of crests and motifs set upon a ‘Trellis Vermont’ wallpaper designed by Augustus Pugin in 1848. Just as rewarding is the bay corner window which enjoys panoramic hill views.

George Hamilton-Gordon, the 4th Earl of Aberdeen, was Prime Minister from 1852 to 1855 and the cousin of Lord Byron. The Earl of Aberdeen suite reflects Gordon’s great love of his family’s rural Scottish estate, decorated in green tones and with a painting of deer in a wild woodland landscape hanging opposite the four-poster bed.

After her husband’s death in 1861, it was the Queen’s ‘indefatigable’ Ghillie John Brown who encouraged her return to the Highland activities which always brought her so much joy. Born near Braemar, he was both devoted to Victoria and a true Highlander. The John Brown suite features portraits of the famous Ghillie and is infused with the colours and textures of the Cairngorms.