Queen Victoria’s SCOTLAND

Queen Victoria’s first sighting of Scotland came in 1842: “The impression Edinburgh has made upon us is very great”

Scotland held a special place in Queen Victoria’s heart; from the moment she first set eyes on the country, and especially after the death of her beloved Albert, it became the place to which she could escape. Having been crowned queen in 1837, Victoria first visited Scotland five years later – becoming only the second reigning British monarch to do so in nearly two centuries. Her first sighting of the country was Edinburgh after arriving by ship at Leith on 1 September 1842; she was captivated by the city romanticised in the novels of Sir Walter Scott.

“The impression Edinburgh has made upon us is very great; it is quite beautiful, totally unlike anything else I have seen,” she wrote in her journal. “And what is even more, Albert, who has seen so much, says it is unlike anything he ever saw; it is so regular; everything built of massive stone, there is not a brick to be seen anywhere.”

“The High Street, which is pretty steep, is