Glamis Castle

Glamis Castle is situated beside the village of Glamis — pronounced Glahmz in Angus, Scotland. It is the home of the Earl and Countess of Strathmore, who open it to the public. It is not run by the National Trust for Scotland. Glamis Castle was the childhood home of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, best known as the Queen Mother, and her daughter, Princess Margaret, was born there. A picture of the castle is featured on the Royal Bank of Scotland ten pound note.

The plasterwork ceilings of Glamis are noteworthy for their detail and preservation, and along with Muchalls Castle and Craigevar Castle, are considered of the three finest in Scotland.

The Williamsburg Art & Historical Center in Brooklyn, USA houses a copy of the last will of testament of Dowager Lady Strathmore, including her marriage contract and the entire inventory of Glamis Castle, the Lady Strathmore being the mother to the Queen Mother of England who died recently at the age of 101 years in 2002 AD. She was one of the most beloved members of the British Royal Family.

The castle is one of the most legended castles in the world, it is “ a soaring pile of keep and towers, turrets and battlements.” It is said to have more dark secrets than any castle in Britain.

Few families are older than the Bowes-Lyons, The Lady and Earl of Strathmore. They had their own army 600 years ago and their own private hangman. King Malcolm II of Scotland was murdered here. Shakespeare placed the murder of Duncan by Macbeth in the stone floored vaulted Duncan’s hall of the castle. And when the Queen mother was a child, she and her sisters always scuttled at top speed through this room.

No family has had a more intriguing past. A Lady Glamis was burnt by James V as a witch, yet a few years later, Mary, Queen of Scots dined with the family and stayed the night. A monster is said to have dwelt in Loch Calder near the castle. There are many bricked up rooms in the castle. Somewhere in the sixteen-foot thick walls is the famous room of skulls, where the Ogilvies family, who sought protection from their enemies the Lindsay’s, were walled up to die of starvation, being no friends of the Strathmores. The tradition of the heavy pile contain much by its appearance and is impressive to the imagination.

There is a tea room in the castle, and the gardens and grounds are also open to the public. They are also open to functions like dinners and weddings.