Between 1501 and 1541 Kings James IV and James V of Scotland transformed the old castle into a beautiful royal palace: one of the finest Renaissance palaces in Britain. James V, already ill, died at Falkland in December 1542 after hearing that his wife had given birth to a daughter - Mary, Queen of Scots.
Falkland became a popular retreat with all the Stewart monarchs. They practised falconry there and used the vast surrounding forests for hawking and for hunting deer and wild boar.
After the Union of the Crowns, James VI and I, Charles I, and Charles II all visited Falkland. Cromwell's invading army set the palace on fire and it quickly fell into ruin. In 1887 John Patrick Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute started the restoration of the palace. The Crichton-Stuarts, the Keepers of Falkland Palace, handed it over to the National Trust for Scotland in 1952.
The roofed South Range contains the Chapel Royal, and the East Range the King's Bedchamber and the Queen's Room. Visitors can also view the Keeper's Apartments in the Gatehouse. In the gardens lies the original Royal Tennis Court, built in 1539, and the oldest such court still in use in Britain.
Originally known as Buckingham House, the building forming the core of today's palace was a large townhouse built for the Duke of Buckingham in 1703 and acquired by King George III in 1762 as a private residence.
James's Palace remained the official and ceremonial royal residence; indeed, the tradition continues to date of foreign ambassadors being formally accredited to "the Court of St. James's", even though it is at Buckingham Palace that they present their credentials and staff to the Queen upon their appointment.
On VE Day (May 8, 1945), the Palace was the centre of British celebrations, with the King, Queen and the Princess Elizabeth, the future Queen, and Princess Margaret appearing on the balcony, with the palace's fled-out windows behind them, to the cheers from a vast crowd in the Mall.
The name of Falkland is associated with falconry which was one of the popular sports in the area and the Howe of Fife with its vast forests was ideal for hawking as well as hunting deer and wild boar.
In 1402 the Duke of Rothesay, son of Robert III, was imprisoned in the Palace by his uncle the Duke of Albany and eventually died a cruel death from neglect and starvation.
Falkland was a popular retreat with all the Stewart Kings and Mary Queen of Scots but in 1603 when James VI took his court to London for the Union of the Crowns this signalled the end of an era both for the Palace and the village.
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