Crathie Kirk is the chapel of choice when the Royal Family is staying at Balmoral and visitors can see different royals on their way to Sunday service most weeks during the holiday. When did this small church become a royal favourite?
Queen Victoria began attending church at Crathie Kirk in 1848 when she and Prince Albert began spending time on the Balmoral Estate. The church that Queen Victoria spent most of her reign visiting was originally built in 1805.
(By Stuart Yeates from Oxford, UK – Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons)
However, in the 1890s it was decided that the church would need to be torn down to allow for improvements in the form of a new building.
Scottish architect Alexander Marshall Mackenzie was chosen to design the new church, with the new Crathie Kirk built in the Scottish Gothic Style. The entire Royal Family supported the new church, with Princesses Louise and Beatrice planning a bazaar to raise funds.
Queen Victoria laid the new cornerstone on 11 September 1893 and the new church was formally opened on 18 June 1895.
Each British monarch since Queen Victoria has worshipped at Crathie Kirk while staying at Balmoral.
The small Presbyterian church holds special meaning for The Princess Royal, as she married Timothy Laurence there on 12 December 1992.
