Bent Colliery Company (who owned the Hamilton Palace Colliery at nearby Bothwellhaugh), the coal under the Low Parks, to be worked on a system, known as the 'stoop and room' method, which would have left Hamilton Palace and the nearby Mausoleum supported by the pillars of coal known as stoops. By the 20th century large and ostentatious country houses had fallen from fashion, partly due to the prohibitive cost of their upkeep. Hamilton Palace had long ceased to be a residence of the Hamilton family, with the 13th Duke considering the palace unsuitable as a modern residence, and preferring to live a rural life at the smaller Dungavel House in Lanarkshire. In July 1914 the Duke and Duchess hosted King George V and Queen Mary when they visited the palace, which was marked by a grand reception. In June 1915 the Duke lent part of the palace for the accommodation of soldiers and sailors who had been injured during the First World War and discharged from hospitals and convalescent homes. In November 1915 the 12th Duke's trustees granted the Bent Colliery Company the authority to work the coal seam beneath Hamilton Palace. Sales and demolition In June 1919 the trustees petitioned the Court of Session for authority to sell the contents of Hamilton Palace and then demolish the building. The trustees had been advised that the coal workings then in progress beneath the palace would damage and might ultimately destroy the fabric of the palace, and so - with the approval of the 13th Duke - they had decided to demolish it. Permission was granted by the Court of Session on 12 June 1919. At this time, the magazine Country Life featured a number of articles on the palace and a quantity of photographs were taken by A. E. Henson, the magazine's staff photographer, to accompany the series. As such they represent an invaluable record of the palace before the sale of contents and fittings and its demolition. The sale of the Hamilton Palace Collection took place from 4 to 7 November 1919 took place at Christie's. The sale raised £232,847 () and included furniture, porcelain, silver plate, tapestries, jewellery and paintings by van Dyck, Rubens, Rembrandt, Reynolds, Romney, Raeburn, Delacroix and Winterhalter. The remaining contents of the palace - 572 lots including wood panelling, furniture, porcelain, carpets, curtains, sculpture and fittings - were sold at the palace from 12