Published in Scotland Magazine Issue 33 on 22/06/2007.

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Friend more than servant

History has preserved the friendship between the widowed Queen Victoria and her personal attendant John Brown. Jackie Cosh reports

Queen Victoria described him as ‘friend more than servant,’ but not everyone was as complimentary about John ‘Ghillie’ Brown.

Rumours were rife that he was conducting an improper relationship with the Queen, some even suggesting that she had secretly married him, while the Prince of Wales (the future Edward VI) made it clear that he resented the influence Brown had on his mother.

John Brown was born in 1826 at Craithienaird in Aberdeenshire. The house where he was born is no longer there, but was one of about 18 thatched houses in the hamlet. When he was five the Brown family moved to a larger house at The Bush Farm, Craithie, and it was here he spent his childhood.

For Brown, schooling ended at age 14 and working life began as an ostler’s assistant. Next he worked as a stable lad at Pannanich Wells before taking on a similar role at Sir Robert Gordon’s estate at Balmoral. He was working as a ghillie on the estate when the new owners, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, arrived that year.

The Queen first mentioned John Brown in her journal in 1849, and it was through Prince Albert that the relationship began. Prince Albert took a liking to Brown and as one of the most skilled ghillies, chose him to ride on the box of the Queen’s carriage. He soon began to look after the Queen when Prince Albert was busy, taking her and her daughters on painting trips, showing them the best locations. Soon, his duties began to expand, until he became the Queen’s personal attendant.

The Quee.....

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By Jackie Cosh

Section : Scottish Legends

Page number : 58