A Lanarkshire dad has transformed his family home into a castle for his Disney-loving daughter to celebrate her being crowned gala queen.
Design engineer and dad of two, Adam Brownlie, has spent weeks creating a 40-feet high Disney themed castle which features window images of favourite characters like Captain Jack Sparrow and Ursula from the Little Mermaid.
Adam spent hundreds of pounds on the incredible waterproof design which he made with his 12 year-old daughter Olivia in the lead up to this weekend's gala festivities.
The 41 year-old told Lanarkshire Live: "I'm a design engineer to trade but we're quite a crafty family so we all helped paint it - even the neighbours.
READ MORE: Inside 'rarely available' Glasgow flat with gorgeous park views on market for £485,000
"It's actually modelled on a toy Disney castle which is a bit more basic than the real Disney castle. I thought we could do it and Olivia was up for it.
"It took me two weeks to work on the design then, once we got all the materials, it took a couple of weekends to cut all the boards, three weeks to paint it all and another three weeks to put it all up - it's been a hard slog."
The devoted dad-of-two says the hard graft was most definitely worth it just to give his Disney-loving daughter her very own dream castle before she is collected by a horse and carriage for her VIP duties as Larkhall Gala Queen this weekend (June 17).
Adam added: "Olivia is a big Disney fan, her favourite princess is Cinderella and on Saturday for the gala she's getting picked up by a horse and cart, so the castle should look really good in the background. That photo will be a keeper.
"Olivia is quiet by nature so she's a wee bit nervous about being centre stage, but she's really excited about it all - I don't think it's sunk in yet."
And Olivia, who is looking forward to the gala, is delighted that the family were able to take inspiration for the Disney castle from an old school project that she once did.
She said: "I like being the gala queen because the day of the crowning brings lots of people together. It's a chance for lots of people to have fun and laugh.
"The house competition the gala has for the gala court is really fun. We decorated our house like the Disney castle. When I was younger my class at school had a project competition where we had to create a castle. I made the Disney castle with my mum and dad and it was taller than me! I was only seven but it was still really tall.
"This year for our house I wanted to do the same but of course it took a lot more cutting, fitting and painting. Being gala queen is really exciting because I have met lots of new people and have had lots of fun climbing Tinto and going to events to raise money."
With the rest of the gala court decorating their houses to be judged on Friday, Adam says community spirit is alive and well as Larkhall gears up for its gala day.
"Larkhall is slowly building to have great community spirit like Strathaven and Lanark", continued Adam.
"Since lockdown the people in our street have gotten very close. We'd have a drink in the front garden together because you couldn't go anywhere.
"Luckily our neighbours are very supportive. We've had young and old helping us paint the castle and go up ladders to put the spires up.
"And it's been hilarious to watch the local school kids as they walk past. Some of the wee ones completely lose it when they see the castle posing for pictures with it. It's been good fun."
Commenting on whether the castle will make a comeback for gala each year, Adam said: "Absolutely not, it's an awful lot of work! We decorate our caravan for Halloween every year so I might keep the bottom half for a haunted castle if I can figure out somewhere to store it.
"We do our best to make it exciting for the kids."
Meanwhile, a twist in the tale saw the family attempt to land a Guinness World Record with Olivia's crowning glory rivalling another Disney princess.
Her Rapunzel-like hair falls at her calves, measuring at a whopping 50 inches.
But, sadly, it wasn't to be a happy ending for this little princess with no pre-teen entries allowed in this category.
"It was a strange one from Guinness", explained Adam. "We approached them but they said they don't do records like that unless you're a teenager because the parents might be forcing the child to grow it.
"That didn't really make sense to me and Olivia was quite disappointed that she couldn't get record-breaking hair. She wanted to cut it off and donate it to the Little Princess Trust charity.
"But, she's still determined to grow it longer so we shall see."
READ NEXT:
Win a holiday in Mallorca with a 5-night stay at Cook’s Club Calvia Beach
Scottish picnic spot less than an hour from Glasgow named 'best in UK'
