After the death of King Edward VII in 1910, Edinburgh city council wished to erect a memorial, paid for by 10,000 subscribers. Six proposals were submitted, some of which would have resulted in significant interventions to the palace’s surroundings, including this one with semicircular colonnades and the erection of triumphal arches to replace the gates. The advice and opinion of the new king, George V, was sought, but the monarch did not ordinarily intervene in matters of royal memorials, and it was only when the potential impact upon the palace was realised that Queen Mary suggested the use of the Tijou screen at Hampton Court Palace as inspiration for a more open railing and gates design as seen today (shown here).

This work also shows the situation of the Palace in the shadow of Arthur’s Seat to the south.