Standing among lichen-clad Scots pine on a heather-cloaked hilltop is a monument that looks as if it were beamed down by aliens. It’s a 10.6m-high granite pyramid commissioned by the heartbroken Queen Victoria for her Balmoral Estate as a tribute to her late husband, Prince Albert.
After their marriage in 1840, Victoria and Albert began visiting Scotland during the summer months. They were so taken by the Cairngorm Mountains, the clean air and the peace of the Highlands that they sought a summer retreat there. Having first leased Balmoral from 1848, the royal couple fell in love with the estate, and in 1852 they completed the purchase. Construction of a new, larger house began the following year and was completed in 1856.
Sadly, Albert died five years later, aged just 42, after a long illness thought at the time to be typhoid fever. (Medical historians now believe that it was another disease that killed the prince, with suggestions ranging from stomach cancer or kidney failure to Crohn’s disease.) Victoria had the striking pyramid-shaped monument erected at Balmoral the following year.
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How to visit Prince Albert's Cairn
You can walk to Prince Albert’s Cairn along a scenic four-mile circuit route from the car park off the A93 at Crathie (charges apply). Paths and even the monument itself are occasionally closed for maintenance, so check the website before visiting, and for details and a map of the walk.
