Our second film showing the progress in returning the castle’s royal palace to its Renaissance glory is now on YouTube. Entitled An Artistic Alliance, it looks at how the interior decoration has been carried out by experts from France and Scotland. This echoes the Auld Alliance between the two kingdoms, which was cultural as well as political.

Recent research suggests that it was a Frenchman called Pierre Quesnel who may have overseen the painting of the palace apartments when they were first built. Monsieur Quesnel formed an alliance of his own, marrying a Scotswoman called Madeleine Digby. Their son Francois, born at Holyrood in Edinburgh, became a notable portrait painter at the royal court in France.

The film is a great opportunity to get a sneak preview of the insides of the palace and, even though it has not been up for long, has already attracted well over 1,000 viewers. Our first film has been watched more than 3,650 times, and the numbers are climbing all the time.

You can take a look for yourself by visiting www.youtube.com/historicscotlandtv