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The Royal Tartans
by Colin W Hutcheson
The vast majority of tartans are modern and do not pre-date
the Battle of Culloden in 1746. Few of those connected with the Royal Household
today date back further than the reign of Queen Victoria, but it is appropriate
to record some historical information about those turbulent times.
The
Royal House of Stewart or Stuart, the "High Stewards" of Scotland can be traced
back to a Breton nobleman in 1097. Later, when the reign of James V
ended in 1542, the direct male line of the Stewarts failed, but the succession
continued through Mary Queen of Scots to James VI (VI of
Scotland and I of England) who died in 1625. On the death of Prince Charles
Edward (Bonnie Prince Charlie) in 1788 and his brother Prince Henry
Cardinal Duke of York (d. 1807), the male line ended. The House of Stewart
continued down the female line to Queen Victoria and onward to our
Royal Family today.
The Jacobite risings and the subsequent exile of
Prince Charles Edward Stuart in 1746 after Culloden nearly caused the
disappearance of Scottish tartans altogether but the continued use of them by
the regiments, and the interest in them of the Hanoverian court at the end of
the 18th Century, followed by the visit of George IV to Edinburgh in
1822, did much to preserve the wearing of Tartans and Highland Dress.
Tradition has it that those who have no tartan of their own can wear the
Black Watch (The Universal or Government Tartan) or the
Hunting Stewart, but not the Royal Stewart
without the express authority of the Queen. However, commercialisation in recent
times has rather blurred this. The one tartan which cannot be worn by
anyone unless the Queen's permission has been granted is the
Balmoral.
The Monarch and immediate
family.
BALMORAL - This tartan was designed
by Queen Victoria's husband. Prince Albert in 1853 and, while predominantly grey
with overchecks of red and black the background contains a thread of black and
white yarns twisted together to achieve the appearance o f the rough hewn granite so familiar in Royal
Deeside. It is worn by HM Queen herself as a skirt and several members of the
Royal Family but only with the Queen's permission. The only other approved
wearer of the Balmoral Tartan is the Queen's personal piper. (The Estate workers
and Ghillies wear the Balmoral Tweed).
STEWART HUNTING -
worn by the Queen when "off duty" and during moments of relaxation. A most
popular tartan with surprisingly little history as to when it was designed but
also worn by HM King George VI and HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother when she
was Queen.
STEWART OLD - Also worn by the Queen on
holiday at Royal Deeside and also favoured by the late HM Queen Mother.
A distinctive tartan it originally belonged to the Stewarts of the Western
Highlands.
STEWART ROYAL - Probably the most well known
tartan world wide today and the basis of many of the Stewart
Tartans.
STEWART DRESS - The Dress version of Royal
Stewart with the predominant red squares replaced by white. Worn by the female
members of the Royal family often for evening occasions but also worn for Dress
occasions by HRH Duke of Edinburgh, HRH Prince of Wales and HRH
Prince Edward.
STEWART VICTORIA - Known to have
been favoured by Queen Victoria who had an extra red line inserted to
the Dress Stewart, and used it for curtains and furnishings at
Balmoral.
KING GEORGE VI - A dark green version of
Royal Stewart was woven for King George IV in 1819. A version
named the Green Stewart with a lighter green ground was woven
especially for King George VI.
The Prince of Wales, HRH
Prince Charles, has been a staunch supporter of the Kilt and wears a number of
tartans linked with titles he holds.
LORD OF THE ISLES
HUNTING - HRH is often to be seen in this tartan when he visits
Scotland and holds the title Lord of the Isles. Commercially it will
appear in darker colours of green than those worn by the
Prince.
ROTHESAY HUNTING - The Prince of Wales is also
Duke of Rothesay and wears the Hunting version.
The Prince wears many of
the Royal Tartans most notably the Balmoral. A non Royal tartan he has also worn
is the Gordon Tartan in his capacity as Colonel in Chief of the Gordon
Highlanders Regiment.
The Second son of the Monarch, the Duke of York
holds the Scottish title, the Earl of Inverness, and, from Victorian
times always followed a career in the Royal Navy. The title was first given to
the sixth son of George III, HRH Prince Augustus Frederick who was
also Duke of Sussex in 1801. In several of the following generations
the second son held the title of Duke of York, Earl of Inverness and
Baron Killarney and were, the son of Edward VII (later
George V), the son of George V (later George VI), and the son of HM
Queen Elizabeth II (Prince Andrew).
INVERNESS - the Inverness Tartan has a red
background and the Inverness Hunting, a preferred version by
George V, has a navy ground.
The Royal
Princesses
PRINCESS ELIZABETH - so named
in the 1930's but is, in fact, the Inverness tartan.
PRINCESS
MARGARET ROSE - designed for the late Princess Margaret in the
1930's.
PRINCESS BEATRICE - designed for Queen
Victoria's youngest child.
PRINCESS MARY - based on
Royal Stewart with a dark green ground in place of Red.
PRINCESS
LOUISE - designed for Princess Louise. In 1881 the 91st
regiment was linked with the 93rd as a territorial one and named as Princess
Louise's Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders. Princess Louise was one of
Queen Victoria's daughters.
Other Royal
Tartans
STRATHEARN - first made for the
Duke of Kent, Queen Victoria's father.
EARL of ST.
ANDREWS - Worn by the present Earl, son of the Duke of Kent.
DUCHESS of KENT - designed in 1934 for the
Duchess.
PRINCE REGENT - designed for George IV
and originally called MacLaren.
VICTORIA BLUE -
one of the many versions linked to Queen Victoria,
STEWART BLACK
& WHITE - also known as "Mourning Stewart".
PRINCE CHARLES EDWARD - several tartans are
linked with Prince Charles Edward but the best known is a version of
Royal Stewart with the larger area of red reduced. Another is a
design reconstructed from fragments of a plaid given to the Countess of
Eglinton by Bonnie Prince Charlie after the battle of Culloden.
There are numerous other tartans with which he is linked including
Drummond of Perth, MacDonald of Kingsburgh and MacDonald of
Keppoch.
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Stewart -v- Stuart
The
French spelling of Stewart was Stuart since the letter 'w' did not
exist in the French alphabet. Even today there are les than 50 words in the
language beginning with ‘W' and most of those are imported ones such as wigwam,
whisky, watt, waterproof etc.
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