Falkland Palace
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Falkland Palace is a former Scottish royal palace in Falkland, Fife.
History
The Stewarts acquired Falkland Castle from MacDuff of Fife in the 14th century. In 1402 Robert Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany imprisoned his nephew David Stewart, Duke of Rothesay, the eldest son of King Robert III of Scotland, at Falkland. The incarcerated Duke eventually died there from neglect and starvation.
Between 1501 and 1541 Kings James IV and James V of Scotland transformed the old castle into a beautiful royal palace: one of the finest Renaissance palaces in Britain. James V, already ill, died at Falkland in December 1542 after hearing that his wife had given birth to a daughter—Mary, Queen of Scots.
Falkland became a popular retreat with all the Stewart monarchs. They practised falconry there and used the vast surrounding forests for hawking and for hunting deer and wild boar.
Nearby Myres Castle is the hereditary home of the Royal Macers and Sergeants at Arms who served Falkland Castle since at least the sixteenth century.
After the Union of the Crowns, James VI and I, Charles I, and Charles II all visited Falkland. Cromwell's invading army set the palace on fire and it quickly fell into ruin. In 1887 John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute started the restoration of the palace. The Crichton-Stuarts, the Keepers of Falkland Palace, handed it over to the National Trust for Scotland in 1952.
Description
The roofed South Range contains the Chapel Royal, and the East Range the King's Bedchamber and the Queen's Room. Visitors can also view the Keeper's Apartments in the Gatehouse. In the gardens lies the original real tennis court, built in 1539, and the world's oldest tennis court still in use. The court is home to the Falkland Palace Royal Tennis Club.
| Royal Palaces and residencies in the United Kingdom |
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|---|---|
| Occupied: Bagshot Park | Balmoral Castle | Buckingham Palace | Clarence House | Gatcombe Park | Highgrove | Hillsborough Castle | Holyrood Palace | St. James's Palace | Kensington Palace | Sandringham House | Thatched House Lodge | Windsor Castle | |
| Historical: Palace of Beaulieu | Beaumont Palace | Bridewell Palace | Brantridge Park | Cadzow Castle | Cumberland Lodge | Dunfermline Palace | Eltham Palace | Falkland Palace | Fort Belvedere | Hampton Court Palace | Kew Palace | Linlithgow Palace | Marlborough House | Castle of Mey | Nonsuch Palace | Osborne House | Palace of Placentia | Queen's House | Richmond Palace | Royal Pavilion | Savoy Palace | Tower of London | Palace of Westminster | Palace of Whitehall | |
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