![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/a-pin-cushion-covered-in-pin-badges-sitting-on-a-mantlepiece.jpg\")
A pin cushion featuring badges from the 1986 Commonwealth Games was another item the late Queen liked to keep on display (Jane Barlow\/PA)PA Wire\/PA Images – Jane Barlow<\/p>\nThe late Queen\u2019s \u201cHaddington\u201d teddy bear and her private rooms at the Palace of Holyroodhouse have been opened to the public for the first time.<\/p>\n
To mark the centenary of her birth, the tour gives new insight into Queen Elizabeth II\u2019s private life, including some of her personal objects such as her Scottish bear.<\/p>\n
She was gifted Haddington sometime around the millennium, and he was one of the few personal objects she liked to be displayed at the Edinburgh palace.<\/p>\n
Emma Stead, the curator for the Palace of Holyroodhouse, said: \u201cThe Queen was given him as a gift and after that she asked that whenever she arrived here, he be placed in that particular position on the sofa awaiting her arrival.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe had a few personal objects that she liked to be placed quite precisely.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnother one is the pin cushion just to the left of the fireplace, which was presented to her when she attended the Commonwealth Games in 1986 in Glasgow, and it has all the badges of the represented countries who took part.\u201d<\/p>\n
Learning curator Richard Williams added: \u201cAll we can say is the Queen was very particular and that always would have gone there.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know from staff colleagues in Windsor that if they were going to redecorate her private rooms, they would take photos of everything so that they could put things back in the exact spot.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Palace of Holyroodhouse opened the private rooms, used by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip during her 70-year reign, to the public on Thursday.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/a-woman-adjusts-an-item-of-the-queen-s-belongings-on-display.jpg\")
Dr Williams said: \u201cThese are not rooms with grand chandeliers. These rooms are much more liveable, domestic, very comfortable spaces of a modern couple.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt does give us a quite new insight into this aspect of the life of Queen Elizabeth II. The contrast is really quite marked.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rooms date from the 17th century and have been used by successive monarchs and members of the royal family since Queen Victoria\u2019s reign.<\/p>\n
The late Queen stayed at the palace during Holyrood Week every year in late June or early July, during which time she undertook a series of engagements celebrating Scottish culture and achievement, including the annual garden party.<\/p>\n
The private rooms are furnished with historic objects from the Royal Collection, as well as pieces from Elizabeth and Philip\u2019s personal collections.<\/p>\n
Tours take visitors through rooms and spaces including the royal breakfast room, where the couple would dine privately while in residence.<\/p>\n
![\"View](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/view-of-a-desk-overlooking-a-garden.jpg\")
Dr Williams said: \u201cShe would take breakfast between 9am and 9.15am, with the Queen\u2019s piper playing down below in the garden.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe and the Duke of Edinburgh would be here, the Scotsman newspaper would be delivered, also the Radio Times and the Racing Post as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Queen always knew everything that was going on.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the Duke of Edinburgh passed away, breakfast was the only meal that she would eat by herself, and she would sit in the chair with her back to the fireplace so she could see all the members of staff and people\u2019s comings and goings in front of her.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor other times of the day, she would eat with members of the royal family.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Queen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/queen-elizabeth-ii-private-apartments-u2013-holyrood-palace.jpg\")
The tours conclude in the sitting room where the late Queen would work, reviewing the papers and documents presented in the Government red dispatch boxes, as well as using the room for private audiences or resting between engagements, often while watching horseracing on television.<\/p>\n
In her private sitting room, Dr Williams said the late Queen would often honour members of her staff.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cThe Queen would often invite, particularly members of staff who had served her for a long time, they may have been given some award as a thank-you. The Queen would invite them to come here into this room.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn fact one of the members of staff who\u2019s been here a very, very long time said that she had that experience. The Queen wanted to thank her for all that she\u2019d done and they \u2013 in the window here \u2013 stood for a while having a nice private conversation, just the two of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s something that has clearly left a delible mark and wonderful mark on her.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tours of the private rooms will run daily for 100 days from Thursday until September 10.<\/p>\n
The Royal Collection Trust said tours are limited and must be booked in addition to the standard admission ticket to the Palace of Holyroodhouse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The late Queen\u2019s \u201cHaddington\u201d teddy bear and her private rooms at the Palace of Holyroodhouse have been opened…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":239188,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[32877,9,24,63,65166,3994,1312,122,124,123,6665],"class_list":["post-239187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-edinburgh","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-palace-of-holyroodhouse","tag-prince-philip","tag-queen-elizabeth-ii","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-royal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}