The Trust

Formally launched at a reception in the Palace of Holyroodhouse on 3rd December 2003 by gracious permission of Her Majesty The Queen, The Virtual Hamilton Palace Trust has been formed to recreate the Palace in a virtual world on the Net and to reassemble as far as possible its unique collection of paintings, furniture and objets d'art which have been dispersed to become the treasures of museums around the world and to set these in their historical and cultural contexts through a series of research projects and the publication of related archive materials.

The Trust believes this would not only provide a hugely important resource for international scholarship, but that it would also have a direct and special significance for Scotland. Chatelherault is already a focus for tourism in Lanarkshire, yet it was merely the Palaces 'dog kennel', so to speak, a tiny structure in the Palace parks. The Trust believes people should have the opportunity of learning about the vast scale of the Palace itself, its galaxy of priceless treasures and those associated with it, both upstairs and downstairs. The Trust believes there is the potential for the project to become one of the most significant art/socio/historical research undertakings ever embarked upon in Scotland.

© Country Life Picture Library

Rediscovering The Palace