Easter at Drottningholm

The family theme for the Easter weekend at Drottningholm Palace is feathers! Looking back through history, we can see how feathers have been used in everything from accessories and status symbols to interior design.

For example, did you know that there was a 'language of fans'? The fan made of feathers was a luxurious accessory that wasn't just used for cooling yourself. Ladies could also use them to signal among themselves from one end of the room to the other.

Feathers were also highly fashionable. Paintings show feathers being used in imaginative arrangements on hats, on clothing and in hairstyles.

And if we look up during a palace tour, we can spot examples of how birds and feathers were used in royal interiors.

You can find out more about feathers, fans and birds during the Easter holidays at Drottningholm. As well as the family tour, there is a feather hunt for children to do on their own. In selected palace rooms, there will also be a signage programme for children on the theme of feathers.

More to see and do at Drottningholm

Drottningholm has an extensive palace park, with many sculptures and several historic buildings. The Royal Walks app takes you on a guided tour of the park.

There is also a restaurant and a Royal Gift Shop in the palace grounds.

Top image: Pehr Hilleström's 1779 painting 'Reading at Drottningholm' shows several royal ladies with various feather arrangements in their wigs. The gentleman in the centre is King Gustav III. There is also a cockatoo, which was one of the pet birds at the palace. Photo: Nationalmuseum