Grant Arms Hotel, Grantown on Spey

ID: PC_GM_POSTCARDS_012 DESCRIPTION: The Grant Arms Hotel in Grantown on Spey was designed by Alexander Marshall MacKenzie and built between 1873-5. In September 1860, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert stayed overnight at the Grant Arms Hotel as part of a two-day trip. The royal couple travelled incognito during their short expedition, as Queen Victoria explained in her diaries. "We decided to call ourselves Lord and Lady Churchill and party", she wrote. "Brown once forgot this and called me 'Your Majesty' as I was getting into the carriage; and Grant on the box once called Albert 'Your Royal Highness'; which set us off laughing, but no one observed it." Victoria described their bedroom at the Grant Arms as "very small, but clean" and said the dinner they were served there "was very fair, and all very clean". As they left the hotel the next morning, the couple's true identity was discovered. Queen Victoria wrote in her diary that, "evidently 'the murder was out', for all the people were in the street, and the landlady waved her pocket-handkerchief, and the ringletted maid...waved a flag from the window". Victoria and Albert's purchase of Balmoral in the 1840s significantly boosted the appeal of the Highlands to the British public. This, combined with the arrival of the railway, led to a vast increase in tourism in the area in the latter half of the 19th century. Located approximately 32 km southeast of Inverness, Grantown is a planned village, established in 1765 by the local landowner, Sir James Grant. This image may be available to purchase. For further information about purchasing and prices please email Grantown Museum PLACENAME: Grantown-on-Spey OLD COUNTY/PARISH: MORAYSHIRE: Cromdale, Inverallan and Advie SOURCE: Grantown Museum COLLECTION: Grantown Museum Photographic Collection Asset ID: 23262 KEYWORDS:

Add to lightbox