John Brown (person)

He was employed as a servant at Balmoral castle at the time of its purchase by Prince Albert and Queen Victoria.

He rose to become Prince Albert's ghillie and Victoria's personal servant after they bought the castle.
After Albert's demise and up to his own death, he became the Queen's closest friend. The mutual devotion between the Queen and her servant was the cause of much gossip and malcontent among those in the Queen's entourage and family who resented her close relationship with the good-looking, outspoken commoner.

On one occasion, 1872, he saved the Queen from an assailant by disarming him.

The Faithful Servant Medal and the Devoted Service medal were created by the Queen especially for John Brown.

He died from a cold in February 1883m while in service at Windsor Castle, and was buried in the Crathie Kirk Kirkyard.

Queen Victoria kept his memory alive until her death. She had a very lifelike statue of him placed in Balmoral's Garden Cottage, where she often wrote letters. His room was preserved as it was at the time of his death, as Prince Albert's was.
A fresh flower was placed on his pillow every morning.

After Queen Victoria's death in 1901, the Prince of Wales, Edward VII attempted to destroy anything that reminded him of John Brown, although many items were in the Brown family's care and survived.

John brown's relationship with Queen Victoria is the subject of the movie 'Mrs. Brown', starring Judi Dench and Billy Connelly (http://imdb.com/title/tt0119280/).