Yesterday Their Majesties The King and Queen visited Edinburgh Castle with His Majesty The King presented with the key to the Castle continuing with the tradition that the Sovereign receives the key as soon as possible following their Coronation.
Sentries from the Scots Guards, Royal Regiment of Scotland, Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and The Rifles open the gates of Edinburgh castle.
Their Majesties The King and Queen attending the Service of the Order of the Thistle at St Giles' Cathedral.
Pipes and drums from 2nd Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland marching down the royal mile.
The Army in Scotland enabled the symbolic affirmation of Scotland’s Sovereign rights under the Crown.
In a ceremony that dates to 1822 His Majesty was presented the key by the Governor of Edinburgh Castle, Major General Alastair Bruce of Crionaich OBE VR DL, and the Key Party.
Sentries were provided by the Scots Guards, Royal Regiment of Scotland, Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, and The Rifles. Members of Balaklava Company, 5th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland (BKA Coy, 5 SCOTS) formed the Guard of Honour as Their Majesties made their way to Crown Square.
Pupils of Queen Victoria School, Dunblane also played a key role. Queen Victoria School is part of the Scottish Government Executive Agency that provides education and boarding for the children of UK Army Forces personnel since 1908.
Their Majesties visit marked the 900th Anniversary of the City and a Service of the Order of the Thistle was also held in St Giles’ Cathedral.
The Order of the Thistle is the greatest order of chivalry in Scotland, recognising sixteen Knights with the highest honour in the country and recognises Scottish individuals who have held public office or who have contributed in a particular way to national life.
At St Giles members of British Army Band Tidworth had the honour of providing the Royal Fanfare with additional musical accompaniment from the Pipes, Drums and Bugles of the 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland and The Band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland.
The Ceremony of the Key, at Edinburgh Castle, was revived 202 years ago for George IV, as it had been a key element to the medieval Scots monarch’s expression of kingship. They toured their Realm in order to ensure all strongholds of power were just that, in protecting their people, as a Chief was expected to do for those in their charge.
The newly crowned Sovereign has now continued this tradition by visiting Edinburgh Castle and ‘taking possession’ of it, for the symbolic security this implies for the good governance of his people.