On her return voyage from Scotland, Helen Hruska saved this menu showing Balmoral, a residence in Scotland that is unusual in that it is actually owned by the queen and not part of the crown estate. The land was purchased by the queen’s great great grandfather, Albert, Queen Victoria’s consort and he had the castle built. Judging from other depictions of the castle, the white-capped mountain in the background of the image on this cover is more artistic license than reality.

Click image to download a 880-KB PDF of this menu.

This menu is part of series of Empress menus depicting various royal residences on the covers. We’ve already seen another one that Helen Hruska collected on the same trip showing Hollyrood House, which is also in Scotland. I’ve also seen ones for Buckingham Palace, Sandringham, St. James Palace, and Windsor Castle. Each of the cover images also shows a soldier or, in one case, a gardener in the foreground.