Balmoral cairns facts for kids
There are eleven stone cairns on the Balmoral estate in Deeside, Scotland. A single cairn is also found on the nearby Birkhall estate. These special stone piles remember members of the British royal family and important events in their lives. Most of these cairns were built by Queen Victoria.
The cairns celebrate many royal events. For example, they mark the marriages of Queen Victoria's children. These included the weddings of the Princess Royal, Prince Albert Edward, and Princess Beatrice. It's interesting that Queen Victoria's son, Prince Alfred, is the only one without a cairn built for him.
Important Royal Cairns
The largest cairn was built by Queen Victoria. She made it to honor her husband, Prince Albert, after he passed away in 1861. Another cairn, called the Ballochbuie Cairn, celebrates when Victoria bought the Ballochbuie forest in 1878.
Queen Victoria also built a cairn for her loyal servant, John Brown. However, this cairn was later taken down by her son, Edward VII, after he became king.
Modern Cairns for Queen Elizabeth II
Two new cairns were built to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 2012. This jubilee marked 60 years of Queen Elizabeth II being on the throne.
One cairn was made in the village of Ballater. It has 60 stones, with each stone representing one year of Queen Elizabeth's reign. The main stone for this cairn came from a local quarry.
A second cairn was built on the Balmoral estate itself. Queen Elizabeth II officially revealed it on August 8, 2012. This cairn was a special gift to the Queen. It came from people who held royal warrants (meaning they supplied goods or services to the royal family) and from current and past employees of Balmoral.
Two skilled builders, Norman Haddow and William Crooks Cassidy, constructed this cairn using a method called dry stone building. This means they built it without using any mortar. The cairn has a special slate plaque with the Queen's initials and the date carved into it. A unique top stone, found in a river, sits on top of the cairn. To finish it, some 10-year-old malt whisky was poured over the final stone.
Images for kids
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Cairn built in 1882 to remember the marriage of Prince Leopold, with Balmoral Castle in the background.
