By Editor-July 5th, 2023.
King Charles III has been presented with Scotland’s crown jewels in Edinburgh in a ceremony to mark his Coronation.
He received the crown and sceptre which form part of the Honours of Scotland.
The national thanksgiving service at St Giles’ Cathedral will also feature a new sword named after the late Queen Elizabeth. It echoes an event held in 1953 to celebrate her accession to the throne.
Before the service the crown jewels were brought from Edinburgh Castle to St Giles’ in a procession down the Royal Mile involving about 100 people from various aspects of Scottish life.
More than 700 members of the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force were part of the procession.
They were joined by the Prince and Princess of Wales, who are known in Scotland as the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay.
Three pipers from King Charles’ former school, Gordonstoun, played during the final stage of the procession.
The Stone of Destiny – which was taken to London for the King’s Coronation at Westminster Abbey in May – has been returned to Edinburgh and also played a part in the service.
A group of protesters from the UK anti-monarchy campaign Republic were outside St Giles’ Cathedral.
A separate rally organised by Scottish pressure group Our Republic took place outside the Scottish parliament.
A referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom was held in Scotland on 18 September 2014. The referendum question was, “Should Scotland be an independent country?”, which voters answered with “Yes” or “No”. The “No” side won with 2,001,926 (55.3%) voting against independence and 1,617,989 (44.7%) voting in favour.
Sources: BBC, Wikipedia.
