Queen's Platinum Jubilee to be commemorated with new arch at this year's Highland Games
A new arch to commemorate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee at this year's Highland Games has been designed by an architect who worked at Dumfries House.
The Jubilee Arch will be built at the Princess Royal & Duke of Fife Memorial Park, in Braemar, near Balmoral, which will sit at the gateway to the games arena.
The Prince of Wales is believed to have approved the design by architect Keith Ross, which will be constructed using local granite and timber, and its colours will reflect the other stands and buildings around the park.
The arch is set to be in place for the annual Braemar Gathering, which is held on the first Saturday in September and sees athletes from across the world flock to the Highlands to compete for cash prizes in traditional Scottish sporting events, including the caber toss, hammer throw and a tug of war.
Pipe bands and Highland dancers also perform at the gathering, which is organised by the Braemar Royal Highland Society.
It is hoped the Queen will be able to attend the event, having only missed five of the Braemar Gatherings since she was crowned in 1953.
As well as being the longest reigning monarch, Her Majesty is also the longest serving patron of the Braemar Royal Highland Society.
David Geddes, the president of the Braemar Royal Highland Society, said that “since childhood, and over the past 70 years of her reign, [Her Majesty] has been an avid supporter of the annual Braemar Gathering.
“The idea of a Jubilee Arch in the games park was considered to be the best and most lasting way of recognising this commitment.”
The archway will be the second major work that Mr Ross has developed for the Royal family after he designed the Chinese Bridge on the Dumfries House Estate, an educational charity and part of the Prince’s Foundation.
He developed the bridge in 2016 using an original drawing submitted by Robert Weir Schultz, a Scottish architect, in 1899.
This year's Gathering will be the first since 2019 after the pandemic forced the cancellation of the event for the first time since the Second World War.
It comes as the Queen was forced to cancel three virtual engagements since she tested positive for Covid last Sunday, and it is hoped the cancellation of a diplomatic reception will give her time to for a full recovery before her next public engagement in a fortnight’s time.
The Queen is not expected to be seen in public again until March 14 when she is due to attend the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey, an annual event.
A reception due to take place on March 2 was postponed on the advice of Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, in light of the Ukraine invasion. It is understood the Queen has no further engagements in her diary - either actual or virtual - in the coming week.
