Top 10 Royal facts

Now that it is February, we celebrate the month of Royalty for the Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology so we thought we would catch up with Janice one of our guides for her top 10 royal facts of Edinburgh Castle.

1. Edinburgh Castle is the home of the Crown Jewels, also known as the Honours of Scotland

2. The Great Hall was built in celebration of the marriage of King James IV to Margaret Tudor of England

3. In 1566, Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to the future King James VI of Scotland and I of England in the Royal Palace

4. During WW2 the Crown Jewels were hidden in the depths of the ruined David’s Tower

5. Queen Margaret, later St Margaret of Scotland, died in Edinburgh Castle in 1093

6. Some of the royal jewellery was pawned during the Lang Siege in the 1570s to raise money to support the cause of Mary Queen of Scots

7. King Robert the Bruce asked his nephew, Thomas Randolf, to destroy Edinburgh Castle in 1314, to prevent it falling into enemy hands again

8. Black Dinner – the murder of the earl of Douglas and his younger brother , took place in David’s Tower in 1440, in front of the 9 year old King James II

9. Last king to stay in the castle was Charles I, just before his Scottish coronation in 1633

10. James II’s favourite wedding present given to him in 1457, the siege cannon, Mons Meg is on display at the castle

Do you have a favourite Royal fact of Edinburgh Castle?  Share them with us @edinburghcastle #edinburghcastle #HHA2017