EDINBURGH.- Visitors have only a few weeks left to step inside the private rooms used by Queen Elizabeth II at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, as a rare opening created to mark the centenary of the late monarch’s birth approaches its end.
The private apartments, opened to the public for the first time this year, will remain accessible through September 10. The 100-day program began on May 21 and is available only in 2026, making the coming weeks the final opportunity to experience spaces that for decades remained largely out of public view.
The Palace of Holyroodhouse is the monarch’s official residence in Scotland, and during her reign Queen Elizabeth II regularly stayed there with Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Their private suite occupies part of the Palace’s east side, overlooking the gardens and Holyrood Park.
Unlike the grand State Apartments associated with ceremonies and official receptions, these rooms reveal a quieter side of royal life. Modestly furnished and used between public engagements, they offer a sense of how the Queen and Prince Philip lived while staying in Edinburgh.
Small groups are taken through the apartments by expert guides, who explain both the history of the rooms and the way the royal couple used them during the Queen’s 70-year reign. The special access forms part of a broader program commemorating the centenary of Queen Elizabeth II’s birth in 1926.
Among the spaces visitors encounter is the Royal Breakfast Room, where Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip would dine privately. The room is decorated with Flemish tapestries dating from around 1650, featuring elaborate floral designs framed by pergolas. The tapestries were installed there in the 1920s at the request of the Queen’s grandparents, King George V and Queen Mary.
The tour also enters the Dressing Room, offering a glimpse of how the Queen prepared for public engagements. Three ensembles associated with important occasions in Edinburgh are displayed there.
One was worn for the official opening of the Scottish Parliament on July 1, 1999: a purple silk-and-wool coat with a green silk-crepe and lace dress, accompanied by a purple-and-green Isle of Skye tartan shawl. Designed by Sandra Murray, the ensemble drew inspiration from the Scottish landscape and was completed with a Philip Somerville hat trimmed with dark-green feathers.
Another outfit recalls the Commonwealth Heads of Government reception held at the Palace in 1997. For the occasion, the Queen wore a John Anderson silk evening gown covered in white, pink, gold and cream beads and sequins embroidered with gold thread.
A third ensemble was worn to the Palace Garden Party in 2017, one of the annual highlights of what became known as Holyrood Week, when the Queen traditionally spent several days in Scotland undertaking engagements celebrating Scottish culture, history and achievement.
For that Garden Party, she wore a white tweed coat flecked with pink, yellow and green, together with a pink wool-crepe dress by Karl Ludwig van Rehse. An Angela Kelly hat incorporating matching tweed, an upturned straw brim and floral decoration completed the outfit.
Perhaps the most intimate stop comes in the Sitting Room, where the Queen worked through official papers delivered in the familiar red government despatch boxes. The room was also used for private audiences and for breaks between engagements—and, according to Royal Collection Trust, for watching horse racing on television.
Throughout the apartments, visitors can also see works connected with Prince Philip’s enthusiasm for contemporary Scottish art. As Patron of the Royal Scottish Academy of Art, he built a personal collection that included works by 20th-century Scottish artists acquired over several decades at the Academy’s annual exhibitions.
Historic furniture adds another layer to the rooms. Pieces made by the Edinburgh firm Young, Trotter and Hamilton were supplied to Holyroodhouse in 1796 in preparation for the arrival of Charles-Philippe, Comte d’Artois, the brother-in-law of Marie Antoinette and future King Charles X of France, who sought refuge there during the upheavals surrounding the French Revolution.
The apartments themselves date largely from the 17th century and have served generations of monarchs and members of the Royal Family since the reign of Queen Victoria. Their furnishings combine objects from the Royal Collection with pieces belonging personally to Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, many reflecting their long relationship with Scotland.
When the rooms first opened in May, Palace of Holyroodhouse curator Emma Stead said the access offered visitors a fresh way to understand Queen Elizabeth II’s well-known affection for Scotland, while revealing both the formal and informal sides of life inside Edinburgh’s royal palace.
The tour does not end with the private apartments. Admission also allows visitors to continue through the Palace of Holyroodhouse, including its State Apartments and the historic rooms associated with Mary, Queen of Scots.
But it is the normally private east-side rooms that make this year’s visit exceptional. For a limited period, the focus shifts away from royal spectacle toward something far more personal: where the Queen ate breakfast, prepared for engagements, worked, rested and spent time during her stays in Scotland.
Queen Elizabeth II Private Apartment Tours at the Palace of Holyroodhouse run through September 10, 2026. The apartments are being opened to visitors only during 2026.
