Detail of dedication inscription to Queen Victoria Digital image of E 15351 cn

Description Detail of dedication inscription to Queen Victoria Digital image of E 15351 cn

Date 18/6/2001

Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu

Catalogue Number SC 769167

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of E 15351 CN

Scope and Content Detail of Inscription, Queen Victoria's Obelisk, Balmoral Estate, Aberdeenshire The base of this slim, tapering, four-sided, granite pillar is inscribed: 'To the beloved memory of Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria, Sovereign of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India. This obelisk was erected by the tenants and servants on the estates of Balmoral, Abergeldie and Birkhall.' Queen Victoria (1819-1901) succeeded to the throne in 1837. In 1840 she married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and produced nine children, most of whom married into the royal families of Europe. Albert was not only a devoted husband, but also her main advisor in affairs of state, and after his death in 1861 she mourned him for the rest of her life. She was regarded as conscientious, hard working and of strict moral standing, and her popularity grew with increasing imperial sentiment from the 1870s onward. In 1877 she became Empress of India, and was regarded as almost the symbol of the British Empire itself. Both the Golden (1887) and Diamond (1897) Jubilees, held to celebrate the 50th and 60th anniversaries of her accession to the throne, were marked with great displays and public ceremonies, and demonstrated the affection and respect of her subjects. She was equally highly regarded by her servants and tenants, whose families she knew by name, and who appreciated her great love for Balmoral and 'all things Scottish'. When she died at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight in January 1901, snow on Deeside stopped Balmoral Castle's clock, an unusually apt occurrence as it is an old Scottish custom to stop the clock when the head of the household dies. The Balmoral estate was bought in 1852 by Prince Albert and Queen Victoria at their own expense as a Highland retreat from the stresses of London life. Prince Albert initiated many improvements, including the building of a new Balmoral Castle in 1853-5 that became Queen Victoria's 'dear place'. The queen took great pleasure in the local landscape and, after her death in 1901, the servants and tenants of the estate erected an obelisk to her memory in the grounds. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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