King given the keys to City of Edinburgh
His Majesty received a Royal Salute upon his arrival at Holyroodhouse Palace - Aaron Chown/PA Wire
The King was greeted with pipes, drums and bows and arrows as he kicked off a busy three days of engagements in Scotland.
His Majesty received a Royal Salute and inspected a guard of honour, formed of The Royal Company of Archers, The King’s Bodyguard for Scotland, at the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
He was then presented with the keys to the City of Edinburgh in an ancient ceremony that traditionally welcomes the monarch to the Scottish capital and marks the beginning of Holyrood Week.
The Lord Provost Robert Aldridge presented the King with the keys on a red velvet cushion before they were returned for safekeeping.
Around 250 guests were invited to Holyroodhouse to watch the ceremony from the palace garden in recognition of their work in the local community.
The Lord Provost Robert Aldridge presented the King with the keys on a red velvet cushion - Aaron Chown/PA Wire
The King and Queen were protected at the garden party by their traditional ceremonial bodyguards in Scotland, the Royal Company of Archers.
The archers have for the first time accepted female members, and the King chatted to Lady Katherine Douglas, 35, one of the first women to join.
‘It is about time that women are allowed’
Lady Katherine competed on the women’s eights rowing team at the Tokyo Olympics.
She said afterwards: “The King asked if I had ever done any archery and I said I had not.
“He said when he did archery the arrows were still in the shrubbery, and I said mine will probably be the same.
“He said it is about time that women are allowed and he was very happy about it. My uncle was in the Archers and this is his last garden party as at 75 they have to retire.”
The King, who wore a grey suit with a Company of Archers tie, was entertained with music from The Band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland and Pipes and Drums of 2nd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland.
The performance included renditions of I’m Gonna Be (500 miles) by the Edinburgh duo The Proclaimers, and Counting Stars by One Republic.
The Queen calls for more libraries
The Queen later arrived at the recently rebuilt Ratho Library in Edinburgh for an event to mark its official opening.
She will help celebrate a new partnership between Edinburgh International Book Festival and Edinburgh city libraries, which aims to promote literature in local communities.
As the Queen officially relaunched Ratho Library in Newbridge, she gave an impromptu speech lamenting library closures.
Her Majesty told a group of librarians, figures from the city’s annual literary festival and leading writers that she “wished” more people would open such facilities.
The Queen said her visit “has just reinforced my belief in what wonderful places libraries are, literally from toddlers to pensioners – they manage to inspire a love of reading of books.
“And to actually see a new library like this… I wish a lot of other people would follow your example and open more libraries all over the country, because I think, sadly, a lot of them have been closing down.
“So to see something as wonderful as this being reopened is all to the credit to all of you who’ve made it happen.”
Around 250 guests were invited to Holyroodhouse to watch the presentation of the keys from a palace garden - Andy Buchanan/AFP
Holyrood Week is the sovereign’s annual July visit to the country to celebrate Scottish culture, community and achievement.
This year, the King and Queen will attend 12 engagements between them over three days.
It marks a return to tradition after last year’s events were reduced to just two days because of the general election.
The King and Queen flew to Edinburgh by helicopter from Birkhall, their Scottish home, on Tuesday morning.
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