Inside Scotland s Most Secret Palace

Scone Palace in Scotland boasts 1,000 years of history. It is the ceremonial site where Scottish kings were crowned. Possibly the most historic place in Scotland. And it is where the likes of Macbeth, Robert the Bruce were crowned or inaugurated. Gosh. And modern royalty have left their mark here too. This one is the present King Charles's tree. He wanted to plant a seed of Lebanon on the Moot Hill. And we still had this gap left. When I married into the British aristocracy, it was the start of a wonderfully exciting journey. But it was also a little daunting. I became a Viscountess. And for an American girl from a small town outside Chicago, that was quite a shock. I live with my husband Luke, heir to the Earl of Sandwich, and our family at Mapperton House in Dorset. Living in a place like this is a joy but also a challenge. And every day we're aware that we're preserving a very special part of Britain's heritage. Mapperton has opened up an extraordinary new world for me. And I can't wait to share it with you all. So if you love castles and manors and stately homes as much as I do, please join this American Viscountess as I journey into the British countryside in search of some of Britain's finest historic houses. Scone Palace stands majestically on the River Tay, on the route north to the Highlands, close to the city of Perth. In 1803, the medieval house was transformed into the splendid Gothic Palace we see today. Scone is one of the most historic sites in Scotland and welcomes over 100,000 visitors each year. For over 400 years, Scone Palace has been the family home to the Earls of Mansfield. Hello, good to see you. Hello, hello. Welcome. Oh my goodness. Hello, hello. Lovely to see you again. And I had a splendid walk down and just, wow, so impressive. The history here is pretty immense, basically a thousand years of it. So one of the struggles that we actually have is we have two pots of history. There's kind of the medieval royal coronation history, the forming of the Scottish kingdom, and then there's our own family's sort of Downton Abbey story. Right. Yeah, you have to juggle the two a bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, because you have so much history, you've got a thousand years of history. I mean, that's pretty impressive. There's a lot of stories to tell. All those Scottish kings that have been here to be crowned, it's quite something. I know, I feel, that's why I got sort of a little bit tingling when I was walking up thinking, incredible. Okay, so little tour? Yeah, let's do it. Which way? This way. Because this is vast, this is a vast home. I know we can't, how many, can I just ask, approximately how many rooms? Come on, Sophie, give me a number. About 120. Originally, it was 120. Now, a few walls have been taken down. Probably a few less, but originally 120. Okay, well, that's incredible. It's a lot of dusting. This is one of the rooms. This is stunning. This is the state dining room. This is where Queen Victoria came in 1842. That was a major event that happened here. The table and chairs were all specially made for her visit. Really? That was the smallest thing we did. We put an entire new driveway, an entire new bridge in, put the building on the mains for the first time, brought a butler out of retirement because the new one couldn't hack it. Yeah, it really went, really went. Because this is what happened. When royalty would arrive, you would just not just pull out all the stops, you would build things. You would make sure that they were comfortable, that there was the right furniture, that you had, as you just said, a new drive was built. A special bedroom suite for her and Prince Albert. That was all specially done. Stayed for one night. I was just about to say, guess how many nights they stayed. And you ruined that. All of that for one night. Yeah. But for a very, very special lady. For a very special lady, you know. So, absolutely. Now, what's that over there? Is that sort of what it is now? I'm just looking at that model. You've got it absolutely right. It's before and after. Yeah, the one here, this is the 16th century building. This is the building that we were gifted by James VI of Scotland. And that's what it became in 1800. Wow. Yeah, and you can kind of see that. If you just picked up that and dropped it on here, boom, you can see the same sort of quadrant. Yes, yes, yes, you can. Oh my goodness. So, it really has properly evolved. Yeah, it's evolved, but the foundations are very old still. Yes, exactly. Originally, Scone was a religious site. Right. And a site of power, similar to Westminster, essentially. Right. Where kings were crowned, where parliaments were held. In fact, the first recorded parliament in Scottish history was held here. The reason why it's a palace is because originally it was an old and early Christian church and a monastery and an abbey. Right. When you have an abbey, you have an abbot, and the abbot lives in the abbot's palace. Okay. So, their name is a relic of that. Okay, right. We came along post-Reformation in 1605, 1607. Right. That period, and it was this guy that did it, David Murray of Gosperty, later Lord Scone, and then later Viscount of Scob. I see. Slightly dubious character. We've got some characters that we can be very proud of. I'm still pretty proud of this guy. He's a cool guy. But at the same time, it was a dangerous bit of Scottish history. A lot of things were happening, a lot of people on the move, and I think we benefited from that. But we are not the head of the clan, so we are Murray's, not the head of the clan. Yeah, I was going to ask you that. We're cousins who did very well for themselves. Right, okay. So, he was a cousin of the people who became the heads of the clan, related to Dukes of Athol. Yes. We kind of span out about 50 years before, and then the whole clan actually was on the make. Okay, okay. But you are related. We're very proud to be Murray's. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Very proud to be Murray's. That's brilliant. So, okay, so we can thank him for this tour today. That you're giving me. And this is the state drawing room. So, this is the showstopper room. Right. This is the one where, actually, originally, there would have been no portraits in here. So, this is, yeah, you can see here, this sort of now slightly dilapidated, it's on the long list, I think, to do silks. So, originally, and we actually have a copy. I'm going to climb over this. I love it. I love that. I'm going to show you what it looked like. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, this was this kind of, think of it as like a Victorian disco. Okay, yes, yes. This would have been, all these silks would have been in this wonderful blue and gold. No. And in the candlelight, it would have all been shimmering away. It would have been this bright. This is an original piece, which was kept in a drawer. Kept in a drawer, and then, wow. We're hoping to take about 10% from everybody's tickets and put it into the silk drawing room fund. Right, yes. Build up enough money to be able to install this room. Yes. It's going to be a massive amount of money. Yeah, well, of course, of course it would be. It's really nice walking in here. I know that this is, you know, roped out for the visitors, but all the photos here of your family to show that this is a family home. And that's what's so, so, so important. There you are. Quick name drop. This desk was given to the second Earl of Mansfield by Marion Toinette. They were besie mates in Paris. He was the British ambassador there, and she referred to him as the Le Bel Anglais, which is pretty good going for a Scotsman, especially as it was just before the American War of Independence, when basically the British and French were already fighting each other. Of course. So he was one of the major players in our family history. Oh, wonderful. It's beautiful. And when it was new, the leaves and the flowers would have been vibrant greens and coloured, and it would have all just been like a painting, but it's all faded with the sunlight over the years. With time, sunlight, yes. But it's still here. It's still here. Which is brilliant. So this is the library, which I know you're going to say, where are the books? There are some books here, but there's the collection of ceramics. I mean, it's absolutely beautiful. And in particular here, the big painting over the fireplace is the first Earl of Mansfield. So there was David Murray who put us on the map. Yes. We then actually had a pretty rough time for about 100 years, primarily because we backed the Stuarts who became the Jacobites. Yes, yes. And we were like, we were very, very loyal to them too many times, and we were fined, we were jailed, we were fined again. It was just, it was not good. So when this guy was born in 1785, the palace was in a massive state of disrepair. And he basically had a good name and he had a good education in the grammar school in Perth, but basically that was it. Okay. And he himself had this incredible trailblazing career in England, then Britain as a judge, as a lawyer and then a judge. And he became... So he brought in money. Yeah, yeah. He became Lord Chief Justice, the longest serving in history. And was said to be the second most powerful man in the British Empire, second to the king. The king, yes. An incredible individual. Right. And his legacy is still very active today because he essentially reformed British common law at a time when the empire was growing. So a lot of your own law in the States, especially the commercial law, is based on his work. So he's referenced about 24 times a year in Congress. Oh my goodness. Wow. Yeah, it's pretty cool. Yeah, that is really cool. So this is the Long Gallery. It sure is. Lives up to its name. How long? I think it's 180. I thought it was 150, but you're probably right. I haven't counted recently. And it is... It was the longest room in Scotland, but it is no longer since they built a longer room at Hollywood Palace. Okay. So you're second. That's okay still. You still... Second to royalty. Right, exactly. That's all right. Many important events took place in here. Charles II processed down here before going out to have his coronation. That's pretty cool. Oh my gosh. So here's my fun fact about that. So Charles II processed down here because of our forebearer, the first Earl of Sandwich. Did you know that Edward Montagu was sent on a secret mission to bring Charles II back from exile and crown him? That's amazing. And that was Edward Montagu, and that was why our ancestor was given the title Earl of Sandwich, because at that time, Sandwich was a great naval port. So there you go. We didn't get a title for that. Are we kind of connected then? I mean, a little bit? Definitely, definitely. I feel right at home now knowing that Charles II processed down here. Maybe your ancestor came here with Charles II because he came to Scotland first. He brought him back 1660, and then he was crowned 1661. Yeah, but incredible. So you've had Charles II here. Yeah, he was the last king to be crowned. Right, okay. But the legacy continues. So a rather ridiculous event took place in here when Queen Victoria came, which was a display of curling, which typically takes place on ice outside. But because it was the wrong time of year, and she didn't fancy it, they did it inside. Yep, they did in here. Took out the carpet on the wall. Curling is that, I see it watching the Olympics. I actually never knew as the American what curling was before. It's what everybody did after work. There were state teams, village teams. You know, there were no computers, no TV. It's what everybody did in the winter, and it was a great community sport. And everybody did it on the entire estate. So it was a really good bonding session, and they all had a terrific time doing it. So we've got Charles II, Queen Victoria, crowning of the Scottish kings. Who else? Come on. I want to quickly show you this book, which was written by Queen Victoria. And the family was sent, it's called Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in the Highlands. It's a well-known book. But the fun thing about this book is, inside is a letter from Osborne House in the Isle of Wight, and it's addressed to dear Lord Mansfield. And it says, the Queen desires me to enclose a copy of her book. And it's from her lady-in-waiting, who's the Duchess of Roxburgh. But the fun bit in here, and it writes about their visit to Scone. The fun bit in here, I thought you'd like, Julie, is that one of the paragraphs says, Lord Mansfield and the Dowager Lady Mansfield received us at the door and took us to our rooms, which were very nice. And that's a bit of fun because we've just received you at the door. And I think your rooms are very nice. Oh, that is wonderful. You mentioned the Charles II connection. This is quite a fun little box. It's got the royal coat of arms on the front. And inside, speaking to our family's connection, there's the man, Charles II. Wow, and this was given to the family, or? This was probably a little statement piece. Right. Kind of like the Jacobite piece of saying, we know who we are loyal to. Right, right. For too long. Exactly. Because there's also a memorial to Charles I on the bottom. Wonderful. So this would have been a little something in a room somewhere so people would understand, we know who they saw, who we are loyal to. So what's quite fun here, a little coronation display. You can see here the invitation to my great-grandmother. Dorothea. You can see on it, number 92. Yes, yes. So number 92. We're quite happy to be in the top 100 for starters. Yeah, I say. Here is a coronation chair. Can you see here? 92. Number 92. So she got to take the chair with her? You're not allowed to pick it up and walk out. You do have to pay for it. Right. That's part of the tradition. I'm not sure what they did. But still, that is fantastic. And number 92, you're right. There were over 8,000 guests at the coronation of Her Late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. That's probably because her husband was the Lord High Commissioner to the Church of Scotland. Right. So he was the Queen's representative to the Church of Scotland. So quite senior. Scone Palace is steeped in royal history. One of the many treasures is so precious, it's safely stored away. In 1567, Mary, Queen of Scots, was captured and imprisoned in Loch Leven Castle. There, she was forced to abdicate in favour of her son, the future King James VI of Scotland. And it's while the Queen was imprisoned that this exquisite treasure was created. The American Scots had four ladies-in-waiting, all called Mary. There's a famous poem about them. Mary Beaton, Mary Seaton, Mary Carmichael and me. Right. Mary Beaton was the aunt of Sir David Murray of Gosperty, first Lord Scone, first Viscount Stormont's wife. Right, wife. Got you, okay. And I believe that Sir David Gosperty, Lord Scone, Viscount Stormont was on the lockside and was part of her rescue party when she escaped her imprisonment. So somewhere along the line, we were given these embroideries. These embroideries. This is incredible. Now, if you had to have parts of it, did it have to be restored? Yes. And this will be some damage. Right, some damage, but then you can see here. That hasn't been some damage. Right. So they were made probably as bed hangings and the side of the bed that was on the window side would have had the sun down as well. This bed is much, much better. You can see here the little S motif for Stuart. Oh my. Just that. And then a wonderful collection probably of the plants and the bugs, the insects that they could see in the gardens that are leaving. So a lovely thistle here, an apple. And there are some fun, maybe not on this piece, but there are raspberries, strawberries. Here you can see raspberry, see? Yes, yes, yes, raspberry. Another wonderful thing here. This is extraordinary. They would have done the individual designs on linen and then they would have been cut out and they would have been put on the velvet. In order to stitch it onto the velvet, they would have used gold thread to cover up the edges and to secure it to the velvet. And you can see the gold thread round it all. It's exquisite. So now that this has been, you know, it's back, it's restored, what's your plan with this? What would be lovely would be able to get some display cases so that our visitors would actually be able to get up close and look at them. Obviously, we'd have to be very careful about the sunlight. Yes. Should we open up the other box and then we can have a look at what's in that one? Yes, it might be. The complete bed hanging is an astonishing survival. The intricate designs of each piece beautifully worked. Hopefully I've not got it upside down. Let's see. Oh, wow, wow. That's the back of it. But that's quite interesting to see that, actually. It's really interesting to see. You can see there's the outline of a... Yes, and then the thread, is that the gold thread that would be outlining that? No, that isn't. That's just tacking it. That's tacking the design. That's just tacking the design on. This is wonderful to see that, though. Oh, my goodness. It's quite damaged, some of that. We can see different animals appearing all the way along. Centipede, that thing. But look at this. This colour is still rather rich there compared to this. Yeah. Wonderful. Hang on, there we go. Oh, my goodness. We can just imagine them sitting in captivity at a small walled garden. This is basically all they could see. Yeah. So they're just putting this to the paper, as it were. This sort of represents the time that they were imprisoned, all of this, just what they saw, the world that they saw. Incredible. What a treat. Perhaps the most sacred area of Skun is out on the hill alongside the palace. For centuries, this was the ceremonial site of the coronation of kings. This is the reason why people come to Skun. This is what I have been waiting for. I'm so excited. This is the spot. Yeah. This is the spot, isn't it? This little mound of earth is possibly the most historic place in Scotland. It's called the Moot Hill. Right. And it is where the likes of Macbeth, Robert the Bruce, and others were crowned or inaugurated. So the Christian element of that ceremony would happen in the abbey. Right. And then the kings would be processed up onto here. Okay. Yeah, to be proclaimed by the people, in what was more of a pagan part of the ritual, which meant that some of them were slightly more reluctant to go through with it. Right. Alexander III, for instance, as a boy, about an 11-year-old boy, had to be dragged up here. Also, if that bit of the ceremony did not happen, you were de facto not king of Scots. This bit had to happen. Right. And what makes it, I think, so cool is that it's called the Moot Hill, but it's also called the Boot Hill in a bit of cool Scottish folklore. And it's called the Boot Hill because when all the magnates and the leaders from around Scotland came to witness a ceremony here, they would bring with them, in their boots, a bit of their own soil from that own land. Oh, my goodness. And when they came here, they'd then pour it out into a pile. And obviously, after many, many, many, many, many, many, many ceremonies, it became what is now the Moot Hill. But that meant that when your Macbeth, or whoever it was, came up here and trod on that pile, he was standing on a little bit of hill, a little bit of land, that represented all of Scotland. All of Scotland. And making his vows to the Scottish people and everything else. How? Pretty cool. It's very, very cool. And I just, I'm able to sort of look all around, as you mentioned before, sort of Robert the Bruce, but then, of course, Charles the Second. Yeah. Kenneth the Cowboy, often called the first King of Scots. Oh, my goodness. Big names. Yeah, big names. James the Fourth. Wonderful. So, but here, this is representing, let's talk about this, the Stone of Scone. Because we've recently just had a coronation, yeah? So that many of us have witnessed for the first time, a coronation for the first time in our lifetime. Recently had a coronation and, you know, it's all about that Edward I coronation chair, Stone of Scone underneath it. And tell us that story and how that Stone of Scone relates back to Scone Palace. So you've got it right. Edward I in 1296, since he commissioned his men to come here to take the Scottish regalia and other such symbols away. Right. That included in the prize piece was the Stone of Scone, otherwise called the Stone of Destiny, which he then carted back to Westminster. And that's where they had, he then commissioned, so the stone preceded the chair, he commissioned someone to make the chair to go around the stone. So then he could, in a very symbolic way, sit on it. Right. In terms of his dominion over Scotland. Okay, I see. It was taken from here. And when, what year was that roughly? 1296. Yeah. Okay. And they knew Edward's army was coming. They had two weeks warning. So what do you think the abbot might've done? Well, hit it. Yeah, made sure that it was safe. Yeah. Might have done. Some people say it's a fake once over. Some people say it's a fake twice over. Okay. Because a bunch of students pinched it back in 1950, 1951, from the abbey. Great story. And eventually they returned it or maybe not it. I see. So technically it's been taken twice. Taken twice, at least. Taken twice. But we do think that the Stone of Scone that King Charles III sat upon on May the 6th, 2023, was the real one. Is that right? It is clear that the stone that was taken from here, whether it was fake or otherwise, was the one that appeared in the coronation. So the one that was used in progressive coronation, the successive coronation for many of it, was the one that was used in the coronation. Okay. Fantastic. Whether there's another one hidden away somewhere, who knows? Who knows? So fascinating. But what I find most fascinating about it is it's made of local sandstone. So Kenneth McAlpine bringing it here doesn't really make sense. But what I think is really interesting about that is that someone felt the need, one of these kings felt the need, somewhere between 840 and before Edward I pinched it, to introduce the idea of this stone being really very important. Okay. And that coronation, you could not be crowned king. You were not the king unless you sat on that stone and were proclaimed. So someone felt the need. The great act of kingship, making nation building, ritualization, they felt that they needed to do that. To do that. That's what I think is most interesting about it. Yes. No, no. You're absolutely right. So this is, we're here on Moot Hill. Yeah. And then, but that is in front of, what am I seeing here? So this is the family chapel and it is the last remaining element of the abbey. Okay. And the abbey was a really very large edifice, about the same size as the palace. But stretching over here at that. Right. And that's where, obviously, the Christian element of the coronation would happen. And where a few people, actually, Robert II of Scotland was buried somewhere here. We don't know where, which is annoying. But we'll find out someday. I'm sure you will. Obviously, John Knox then came along in the Reformation. That didn't go so well. The abbey kind of lingered on for a bit, but was then taken down. And the last remaining bit was moved up here. Okay. And that became our family chapel and the family crypt is below. Now, can we go in? Yeah, let's go and have a look. And what does this date back to? This, what I'm seeing here? So what you're seeing here is a 17th century restoration of what was a transept, a side chapel. Okay. And that was then moved up here. Right. Lovely. Very special. Yeah, the family chapel and the crypt below. So the crypt below. So everybody's here. Yep. And we have a family vault as well, but ours is full. So I won't be buried there. But how is yours looking? There's one spot left, but that's been left. So my great-grandfather and grandfather are out the back. So everyone's just leaving it for someone really special. For someone really special. Well, this looks like a masterpiece. It is, yeah. Done by a man called Maximilian Colt. Yeah, he did only about two or three of these. So this is really something special. So this was created, as you said, there's just a couple of these. What am I looking at here? So the man in the middle, on his knees, is David Murray of Gosperty, who we mentioned earlier, the first Lord Schoon. So the first guy in our family, essentially. Right. Surrounded by his mates on either side. They are Earl Marshall and Earl of Contour. And essentially, it's a little note, a little chad, between David and God saying, I wasn't all that bad, please let me in. Yeah, I'm slightly overstating it, but it's kind of true. I love it. It's a letter to God. But you know, this is so wonderful to see this. It also just reminds me that, you know, we have to remember that, you know, several hundred years ago, to show off your wealth and power and how powerful your family was, something like this would be commissioned. And by Scottish standards, this was like, whoa. Right. Down south with you lot, maybe a few people had these, but up here, that sort of European import of talent, this was exceptional. Yeah. So it would have been a major statement piece. Yeah, it is absolutely exquisite. Mood Hill isn't the only feature in the landscape at Schoon, which has grown in remembrance of royal occasions. Is it true that there are a lot of royal trees here? Yes, it is. If they come and visit, we like them to plant one. Right. And is that something... For a long time as well. Right. So it's sort of tradition. Is that right? That you come to Schoon Palace, you are a king or queen or emperor. That's right. You've got many. It's not just British royalty. Is that right? Yeah, international royalty as well. International royalty. And they come and they plant a tree. Yes, because this is so important in history, Schoon Palace. Absolutely. I mean, it goes right back to Mayor, Queen of Scots. And beyond, James V. James V. Oh my goodness. 500 years, I'd say. Right, of planting trees. Of planting trees. Right, what's this one I'm looking at here? This one is the present King Charles's tree, but he planted it in 2010 as the Prince of Wales. And he wanted to plant a seed of Lebanon on the Mood Hill. And we still had this gap left. So it'll grow and grow and grow. And eventually it'll be the seed of Lebanon that we all know and recognise. Those really, really little big trees. And there's a famous one in the scene looking at Highclere in Downton Abbey. Yes, yes. Lady Riley sits on it. Yes, that's exactly right. So this is the James V tree. So potentially the oldest tree on the property. Wow. 500 odd years. No. Still going somehow, despite the middle bit fell off. It was blown off, ripped off in the storm in 2010. Yeah, okay. May, very late storm. But it came down because all the leaves, they suffer worse when the leaves are still on the trees. So just down there, that's the James I or James VI tree. So that dates to around 1600, maybe earlier. Very old oak. Yeah, very old oak. Somehow standing. It's all rotted away, but still somehow standing. Yeah, it's a lot like that in Winter Great Park, at Winter Castle, when they start tooting back. They die back. Right. I mean, it's in full bloom. I mean, do you have sort of a tree surgeon coming out looking at these trees and making sure? Yes, constantly. Constantly. And then this lovely tree was planted by our former monarch, Queen Elizabeth. In 1967. No. Oh my goodness, she had only been queen for just over a decade. Absolutely. She was very young. In her 30s then. Yes. Oh my goodness. A Norway maple. A Norway maple, planted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, 12th of October, 1967. How wonderful. This is the second tree planted by Queen Elizabeth. 2012, her jubilee year. She came for lunch. It was so exciting. She came for lunch here? Were you here? Yep, I was here with my three daughters. Sadly, William wasn't able to come back, which was just really- It was working. Really upsetting for him. But our three daughters, there was a big lunch party in the Long Gallery. Big gathering. And how did you know that she was- I mean, how much in advance were you contacted to say, the queen would like to visit? It was a good nine months. Right, right. There was lots of- Preparation. Lots and lots of preparation. And it was a really, really big day. Oh, and was the public allowed to see some of that? Or was it very private? Yes. No, right. Yes. The public were all lining on the queen's drive. Yep. And so she planted the tree. Yes, and we deliberately chose this place, because in time, her ancestor's tree will eventually come down. And it's very, very old now. James V, yes. And I planted it far enough away, I hope, to allow this oak to go up next door to it. Yes. So when that comes down, we then have a lovely, majestic oak in its place, planted by the late queen. What a wonderful memory. And you know, you now have this, which will be here in her memory for hundreds of years to come. Fantastic. Yep. And an oak such a symbol of Britain. It certainly is. In the park, there is one very special tree, which stands high above all the others. So, Julie, this is a very, very famous tree at Schoon Palace. It's a Douglas fir tree. It was planted from the first seed that was returned here by David Douglas, who was born at Schoon and was the son of Schoon, who became a famous botanist. Right. And we are very lucky to have his original first tree. And as you can see, it is absolutely enormous. It's enormous. He was born here and he was a gardener, a very early sort of junior gardener. And then he was sponsored by the third earl through his education, and then to become this famous botanist, and went to North America and discovered a huge number of species, including obviously the Douglas fir, this being the first one that was planted. And he left this huge legacy in forestry. I was like, that guy had so much potential. But sadly, he actually died really quite young, only about age 36 in 1834 in Hawaii on one of his expeditions. No. Okay. So 1834, Hawaii, obviously a state of America. But during that period, Hawaii was called the Sandwich Islands. Get this? Because the fourth earl of Sandwich, our ancestor, was a patron sponsor of Captain Cook, who then discovered Hawaii, well, and then called it, of course, after his sponsor, the Sandwich Islands. Yes. What a coincidence. Yes. And Captain Cook also died in Hawaii as well. Well, Sandwich Islands. Yes. There we go. Two reasons I feel right at home here. Douglas fir and the Sandwich Islands. It was an interesting tribute to various people in the 19th century sponsoring these great talents to go and do various things. Yes. To go and explore and discover and learn. Yeah. And bring it all back. Yeah. David Douglas brought back 300 plants with him. Tiki introductions. And it's incredible to think that this was just a seed. Yeah. And look at it now. Absolutely. Yeah. Astonishing. Yeah. Trees planted by royalty and then trees that are royalty. So in the forestry world, this is royalty. Yes, absolutely. Yeah. And people will come just to see this tree. Yes. No, no, of course. I mean, I'm astounded by it. It's enormous. In the private apartments of the palace, Sophie and William share their insights of maintaining and managing a historic home on the scale of Schoon Palace over a lovely cup of tea and... We're going to have a scone at Schoon. A scone. Scone, schoon or schoon? Scone at Schoon. We're scone people. Oh, definitely. But there are quite a lot of people who are scone people. And yeah, it's all a bit confusing. And it's quite geographic. Yes. I think it might be to do with the Vikings, actually. Oh my gosh. I won't even try to pronounce it. I'm sure I would. I think every time I've tried to say a scone, my husband says that I butcher it. But was that all right? Yes, that was good. Is it okay? Yes, that's okay. But we're at Schoon. Yeah, I know. And a pet name for the place is Chateau Gâteau. It's quite fun. Well, this is absolutely brilliant, everybody. Should I? Yep. I put a little table out for you. Okay, well done. Oh, lovely. And a fire. How wonderful. Well, this is a perfect way to sort of cheers to Schoon Palace or scone palace or scone palace or Schoon Palace. But perfect way. But what I'd love to chat to you both about is the reality around living in this history and being the custodians of this historic house, of the estates, but also making sure that this survives for future generations and maybe putting our own legacy or stamp on it. And the two of you together, mother and son, it's so lovely to see the both of you together. But Sophia, I know you've been here for how long? Have you been? I moved north in 1992. Yeah. Right. And my parents-in-law moved out in 2010. Gosh. Right. You were active in the business here from mid-90s? 96. Right. Yeah, 1996. Yeah. And I took over the sort of the shop and the catering. Yeah, so almost 30 years. And then the garden. Yeah, yeah. It's very interesting what happened here. A third son inherited when his two older brothers died. In 1900. Right, 1900. And he wasn't expecting it at all. Right. And he started off life in a farmhouse and he's in the army. And after the First World War, he moved out of Scone Palace and moved to a villa in Perth. And he sold the family's London house, which was Kenwood House. And my husband's grandparents, when they first married, lived first of all at Balborte, which is the home farm. And then they moved to another house. And it was their decision in the 50s to move back into the palace. Right. So the palace was empty except for during the war when it was requisitioned as a girl's school. It was empty from the 1920s to 1950s. Oh my goodness. A long time. So when they decided to move back in in the 50s, was there a lot of work that needed to be done? Massive. Absolutely massive. Central heating, electrics. And we've lived with that for a long time. We're lucky in ways. They did it to a really high quality. So copper wiring, which is still going strong. Yes. They had to sell some of the best fetch furniture to achieve moving back in. I mean, a lot of their friends thought that they were mad. A lot of them said, you know, all hail you for being brave enough to move back in. They moved back in knowing that they were going to have to open it to the public. And so they had vision to be able to open it to the public. Because then all of a sudden your home becomes a tourist destination and you're sharing your home with strangers, if you like. Totally. I mean, these were bedrooms. These were bedrooms. The house is built on a slope. You enter, the front door is on the ground floor on one side, but on the first floor on another side. So they had already decided when they moved in the 50s and opened in 65, that they would live on the ground floor and on the second floor. And all the reception rooms that they had on the first floor would be open to the public. And then you've carried on, what, 100,000 visitors a year. But it's not just the visitor income. Of course, that's one element of many of these historic houses, is bringing the visitors. But that's just not going to cut it. You can't just be a house that opens up to the visitors and think, great, that's going to repair my roof. No. No, it doesn't work like that. You know, it's very difficult and you have to decide which route you're going to go down. You know, in the 60s and 70s, you know, those people went down the Safari Park route. Yes. What one has to remember in Scotland is that the population isn't as big as it is down in England. So it's much more difficult. There's only 5 million people living in Scotland. Right. So we're much more reliant on the international market. Yes. Although we hope to make a shift there. We've got some development plans that will hopefully make us more of a local attraction as well as international. Right, right. Whatever you do has got to be elegant and has got to survive, you know, the 100-year plan. Yeah. Oh, I love that. That's so right. You know, we're always talking about the one year, the five year, the 10-year plan. But it is. It's the 100-year plan. You want your great-grandchildren to be proud of what you did 100 years ago. So what is your 100-year vision? Well, it's been long in the coming and a long wait because it's all to do with where you live and what's going on locally. And we've been waiting for the council and the government to decide where they were going to put the extension of the bypass. And in many ways, it's sad. It's carving through the middle of the home farm, a lovely bit of countryside. But at the same time, it is good for the local ecosystem. It's really an environmental project. There's some bad pollution in Perth. But it will be good for us in terms of business. So it will transform our access. And locally, that's a big opportunity. What are your plans? Do you have ideas? Yeah, we have plenty of them. Some of them are microcosms. Mum actually, a few years ago, came up with the idea for a dog event. That's Paws at the Palace. It's hugely popular, a nice little event. And it reminds people locally that you come to Schoon to have a good time. And that's something that we're very clearly trying to build. You come to Schoon to have a good time in whatever you're doing. So there's small but important activities like that. And then that's all part of this bigger plan. The bigger plan really revolves around that road coming in. Yes. And if we are given permission to do a big development in what's currently the rather dilapidated stable block. The destination building is definitely part of the plan. Right. And this is one interesting thing because 400 years later, I would say you could say in 1950, we began. This is slightly harsh on the ancestors. But in 1950, we began to become a family business. Previously to that, we've been very successful generations, individuals who were extremely gifted in a certain activity. We had lawyers, diplomats, soldiers, whatever it was. But not really business people. I'm the first person in 400 years to have a business education, which is quite an interesting idea. Yeah, yeah. And I think that's all geared towards my future here because you really have to approach this as a business. That's absolutely right. The costs of maintaining the building are massive. And also, this building is made of sandstone. And it just happens. Sandstone in Scotland. It just happens to be what was the local stone at the time. But sandstone is not hardy. Right. So you have destiny is made of. Do you have a really good stone mason who basically you employ full time? Hopefully, when we have the stable development and it's produced, hopefully that will create enough income to start working. Of course, we are fortunate to be the custodians of these homes. The golden handcuffs. Yes. Golden cage, however you want to describe it. Incredible privilege. Awesome responsibility. But it is a responsibility. But for me, the balance is very much still positive and optimistic. Yes. You've got a job to do. But yeah, it's still it's a great privilege to be in our position. Yeah. Well, brilliant. Thank you both so much for just, you know, sitting down here. Lovely scone. Thank you. It's really wonderful. But also just to chat and be very open about, you know, again, the golden handcuffs. Gilded cage. Yeah, that's exactly right. Thank you. Fortified with tea and scones, time for some intrepid exploring. So now we're going to have a quick little trip up to the roof. Oh, fantastic. Here it is. So in we go. Mine just down. Okay, coming up. We're going to the roof. This looks like... We have to get there. We have to get there first. Another whole floor. Oh, my goodness. Look at me, Sue. Please note the towels for the next leak. Oh, always have to have those on hand. That's for sure. Do you have any buckets, Sophie? Need the bucket? Here's a couple of very big buckets. There you go. Excellent. Fantastic. This is where me being the first member of the family, I think, is over six foot for a long time is not helpful. Yes. Right. Here we are. Okay. Here we are. Okay. Having a little look around. Okay, here I come. Whoa. I hear the peacock in the background. So this is... Wow. Going around. One second. There we go. Under. It's quite a Mary Poppins. Here we are. A Mary Poppins seat. It is. Oh my goodness. This is wonderful. So that was not what I expected going up on the roof. I've just got to be perfectly honest with you. I've been on several roofs before of these historic houses, and yours is by far the most fun. That was the most fun. Incredible view. Where should we stop? Yeah. That's the Highlands line. Where should we stop? Okay. It's the beginning of the Highlands. So that's the Highland line there. Right. So what's really fun, how good's your Shakespeare? Oh, you're talking to the American. Not that good. Okay. Well, there's Macbeth. Yes. And in Macbeth, he's told that he won't be killed until a certain wood moves to Dunsinane Hill. Right. Yes. Dunsinane Hill is just hidden here. But that is Burnham Hill and Burnham Wood over there. I do know that. And the last word of that play? Was? Scoon. Absolutely. Yes. The victor. Thanks everyone. Thanks to all in one for coming here to see me crowned at Scoon. Curtain down. Macbeth. Yeah, Shakespeare's Macbeth. Yeah. Oh my goodness. I hope you promote that to your visitors. And trees here. Yes. Yeah, got Queen Elizabeth just here. Fantastic. King of Sweden just here. Oh my goodness. But what spectacular views. The flag I can see is flying. Is it always flying? Yes. Yeah, it's the alms of the Murries of Scoon, the alms of Mansfield. Okay. The Murries are the blue with white stars. Okay, yeah. And then the other bit is the Barclay that goes back to the 1400s. Oh my goodness. Well, this has been a real treat. Can I just whip up my phone real quick? Yeah, sure. And get a picture? Just don't drop it. Yeah, no, no, no, I won't, I won't. Better have a selfie. Come on, everybody. Let's do it. Let's get that selfie. Let's turn it around. Okay, yeah, selfie in. This way. Let's get the turn in. So it looks like I'm in a real castle. Okay, ready? One, two, three. Got it. One feature in the landscape at Scoon Palace is absolutely stunning. Many historic gardens have a maze, but this one is rather special. Designed in the shape of the star, which features on the Murray family crest, this maze has a secret best seen from the air. So this is your maze? Yes. This is the maze, and it's about to get its annual haircut. You know, the boys will be in here next week, and it takes about five days to give it a haircut. Oh, I thought you were going to tell me it takes about five days to get through it. It takes a full, it might, it might. It takes a full week to give it a haircut. So it's even more confusing now because it's so overgrown. Okay, okay. It's designed in the shape of a Murray star. It was my husband Mungo's idea, and it has been designed to represent tartan. So we've got two sorts of beech. We have regular beech, green beech, and we have copper beech. So when you look at it from above, it looks like tartan. Oh, that's so clever. Lovely touch. Very, very clever. And is this, you know, in one sense, looking at how we try to attract more visitors and giving them different experiences, is this one of your children attractions? Yes. Obviously adults as well, because I'm enjoying it very much, Sophie. Absolutely. I mean, this is exactly what it was, you know, the idea was to give everybody a bit of fun. Yes. A labyrinth. And do you know the secret way through? Like, have you timed yourself? Can you do it in like one minute, right? I know how not to get lost if I stick to the rule. Okay, is there a rule for not getting lost in mazes? Yeah, there is. But I don't think I'm going to be telling you this this time. So I just have to figure it out. Or I'm just going to follow you, Sophie. I'm just going to follow you. But wonderful. This is fantastic to have this. I mean, did your children growing up, did they sort of, you know, enjoy this? Yeah, they loved it. Yeah, all children absolutely love it. Well, wow. I'm getting a bit dizzy because I'm in a maze. I mean, you really, I'm trusting you, Sophie, that you are not going to get us stuck, that all of a sudden there's not going to be a headline newspaper tomorrow saying Lady Mansfield and Lady Hinchingbrook lost in the maze at Schoon. Please help. Right. If we deviate from the rule, you can get lost for hours. Because it all looks the same. It does. It really does. But how long did it take to erect? It took about eight years to get it established. And it was, this was originally called the Monk's Playground because when this was an abbey and it had lots of monks that lived here. And so this was always on the maps known as the Monk's Playground. And it was an area of tons and tons of wild daffodils. And it was doing nothing except in the spring when the daffodils came out. But they're only out for a couple of weeks. That's right. So now you still have all the daffodils coming out all around it. Right. But, you know, the maze is earning its keep. Right. You know, all year round. Right. Oh, bridge. And here we are under the bridge. Close. We're getting very close now. Oh, we're getting very close. Now we're about to come to the centre. Oh, to the centre. The centre. Okay. You can have a little sit down there. Oh my gosh. Hello. It's my fault. Wow. So this is like the centrepiece of the whole maze. Is that right? Absolutely. And here we have Arethusa from Greek mythology. It's commissioned by my father-in-law, William Aether. And David Wynne Ellis is the artist that created her. Beautiful. And there's lots of pennies, I see. That's right. People put their wishes in. Yep. People putting their wishes in. Hopefully she's granting them. Fantastic. What a wonderful, what a wonderful day out. But also just a real treat. I was just saying to Sophie, it's great for children, but I had so much fun. I just had so much fun doing that. It was really brilliant. Next time though, I'm going to like pack a lunch. I'm going to, because I would definitely get lost if I wasn't with you. That's for sure. All right. So how do we get out now? With difficulty. No, fortunately it's right beside the exit. We made it to the end. How fantastic. Soon visitors to Schoon Palace will have the chance to enjoy not only the maze, but the new stable block development. Sophie and William explained their vision and wow, it is going to be spectacular. Right, well here we are in the old stable block. A very traditional Scottish stable block. Absolutely. Which has terrific potential for being converted in and loved and looked after. Our next big project. This is the big project. So obviously it was the stable block once upon a time. Are you using it for office space? Multi-purpose. Right now. And then the plan is thinking bigger. There's some accommodation here now. The gardening team have used it historically. General storage, the maintenance team. But obviously, yeah, the plan moving forward is for it to be very different. Right. So what's the big vision here? I mean, this is, you know, we talk about when I meet with other historic house homeowners, it's always about sort of this legacy project. As you were saying, Sophie, for, you know, 100 years from now, you want this to be what? The big vision here is to have a larger, nicer cafe with a larger, nicer kitchen that can produce really good quality food using our produce from the walled garden. Right. To have a larger shop. Schoon is a long, thin, rectangular building, and the shop and the cafe are both long and thin. So it would give us an opportunity of having a much nicer space and a more economically sensible space. Right. To have a viable space to have a cafe and a shop. It's really to scale up and improve everything we do. Yeah. So in terms of tourism experience, ticketing, a new entrance. Yes. Fully accessible for the local market as well as international market, food and retail hub. This would be sensational. And then that means somebody like me, if I'm living locally and let's say, OK, I've got young children or I've just dropped them off to school, I don't have to pay at the pay barrier to go into the palace or to enter. I could just come here, get my coffee, get my cake, get a little bit of lunch, meet my friends and just enjoy a day out here with my friends. Yeah. We will be offering a membership scheme for locals because part of the plan is to put a really exciting outdoor venture playground in. And so local families will be able to join that membership scheme. Yes. It will be a major transformation of our business. Right. No, of course. And we'll be able to go down the green route, being more sustainable by having a solar energy down hidden behind the trees in an area of park that we don't use. So we should be able to power a lot more that way. Brilliant. Which will be really good going forward. We have a lot of interest. You have to be realistic about it in terms of making it profitable. We have an amazing wood garden, another project in itself, but we want that to supply as much as possible to here as well as the estate. Sometimes that is too much work for the profit in it. Yes, yes. We want to slowly and surely try to build as much of that into it as possible. Yes. So if it's not grown here, it's going to be local otherwise. Right. We're feeding into this, that sort of local high quality. Of course. But this is a big space. So you're thinking cafe, shop, but anything else? Because it's vast, this space. Big space. So the plan is a small area devoted to ticketing and as a new entrance into the historic areas itself. Right. This area behind us, which hopefully if we're allowed to will be doubled in size, will be the seating of the restaurant essentially in there. My mother has been researching kitchens a lot. So hopefully Hell's Bell's big kitchen out there and alongside that, a food, a retail setting up here. Wonderful. And then a multi-purpose space here, if there's like a Christmas fair, I think that was called Christmas extension, with this being the typical tourism reach out here. Okay. So tourists would flow through here, do their thing and come out through this. Yes, yes. And as far as timing goes, when or is it still? Pre-application now, i.e. the application has gone in. We got our first round of feedback. So hoping, if everything goes to plan, open 2025. Right. Very exciting. Amazing. Well, I will definitely come back and visit and have a wonderful black Americano with a scone, yes, here at Scone Palace when you open up this. Brilliant, brilliant space. Very, very exciting. Well done. So exciting. What an incredible visit and I cannot wait to return and sample the delights of the new stable block development. Thank you so much for joining me and I look forward to your company very soon for another historic house visit.