Queen welcomes 8,000 to garden party during her visit to Scotland
THE QUEEN and Duke of Edinburgh hosted a garden party in the grounds of the Palace of Holyroodhouse for around 8,000 people from all walks of life during a visit to Scotland.
The Duke of Hamilton and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon were among those accompanying the royal party as they mingled with guests on the lawn in Edinburgh, under the watchful eye of the Royal Company of Archers and the High Constables of the Palace.
Both the Queen and Philip met a group of six wartime Wrens – aged 89 to 97 – who recounted tales of their work during the Second World War.
Jean Watson, 91, from Largs in North Ayrshire, was stationed in London, Liverpool, Stornoway and Ireland when she worked in the supply branch.
“It was a wonderful experience, a wonderful two years,” she said. “Stornoway especially played a very important part in the war because they were training ships as escorts to the North Atlantic convoys and they used to come in to refuel.”
The women, all members of the Glasgow Branch of the Wrens Association, did not serve together but they have forged lifelong bonds through the group and meet up once a month.
The oldest member of the group, 97-year-old Marjorie Lamb (nee Corbett), spent two years in Egypt as a Wren officer.
Earlier the Queen took part in an ancient ceremony to formally welcome her to Edinburgh as Holyrood week gets under way.
The annual Ceremony of the Keys saw the monarch handed the keys of the city and welcomed to “your ancient and hereditary kingdom of Scotland” by Edinburgh Lord Provost Frank Ross.
She is symbolically offered the keys to the city by the Lord Provost and tradition dictates that the Queen then returns them, entrusting their safekeeping to Edinburgh’s elected officials. Holyrood week includes an investiture and garden party at the palace, while the Queen will also meet Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the Palace of Holyroodhouse on Wednesday.