Abergeldie Castle (7)
Another view of the royal additions to Abergeldie Castle, photographed in 1903.  

As well as the future Edward VII, the Duchess of Kent spent several autumns here between 1850 and 1861, and the Empress Eugénie, the Spanish wife of Emperor Napoleon III, passed the October here following the loss of her son The Prince Imperial.

(Nothing to do with Abergeldie, but the Prince Imperial was an interesting character.  The son and heir of Napoleon III, not to mention the god-son of Pope Pius IX, he went into exile in Britain with his parents before undertaking military training.  With the outbreak of the Zulu War in 1879, the prince, with the rank of lieutenant, forced the hand of the British military to allow him to take part in the conflict.  In June of that year, despite efforts to keep him out of trouble, the patrol he was part of was ambushed by Zulus and he was killed.  Louis-Napoléon's death caused an international sensation.  Rumours spread in France that the prince had been intentionally &quot;disposed of&quot; by the British.  Alternatively, the French republicans or the Freemasons were blamed.  In one account, Queen Victoria was even accused of arranging the whole thing.  Conspiracy theorists are not a new phenomena!)

<i>(Photo courtesy of <a href="http://www.canmore.org.uk" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.canmore.org.uk</a> )</i>
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