At the time of this visit Victoria had been on the throne 7 years. She was only 25yrs old but had already churned out four children in four years. Prince Albert thought it would be the ideal place for the queen to recover from the arrival of Alfred, their fourth child, born just a few weeks earlier. They stayed for 3 weeks and it cemented a lifelong love affair for the royal couple with the highlands. When Queen Victoria arrived 200 Highlanders, part of the Scottish Infantry Regiment known as the Atholl Highlanders whose home is Blair Castle. As a present for guarding her during her stay Victoria gave the Atholl Guards their own coat of arms, making them to this day the only private army in Europe. Oh, and she threw in a couple of canons for good measure. Lord Glenlyon, the host at Blair Castle, had a brother who worked at the royal court in London, who Albert used as his travel agent to make the arrangements. Tim reveals that In a letter to Lord Glenlyon, 2 months before the visit, his brother wrote… 'Prince Albert is extremely anxious that after the Queen's confinement, she should make a little trip for the benefit of her health. They wish to go quietly and without any state just as a nobleman would go down for a little shooting' Tim discovers from the gamekeeper's records from Sept 1844, the time of the Royal visit, that His Royal Highness Prince Albert bagged quite a few deer including five in the space of two days, and three on another. He also reveals how the Queen insisted that a bouquet of fresh pulled heather and a bottle of spring water from nearby Glen Tilt be put in her room every day. Chef and Food historian Ivan Day uses records of the visit to recreate a Victorian surf and turf dish that was typical of the time and would have been enjoyed upstairs and downstairs: Mutton and Oyster sausages. And both Tim and Rosemary end by taking part in a highland dance just as Victoria and Albert did during their visit.