King and Queen begin Holyrood Week under guard of ceremonial female bodyguards
2 July 2025, 01:36
The King and Queen were protected by ceremonial female bodyguards for first time in an overcast Scotland as the south sweltered.
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Charles and Camilla began their official stay in Scotland - known as Holyrood Week - by carrying out solo engagements in Edinburgh and later hosted a garden party together.
Earlier when the Queen opened Ratho library, she told her hosts the weather was "cooler" than conditions in England and described the weather in Scotland as a "drop in temperature".
Scots from a range of backgrounds from NHS workers to the military and charity volunteers were invited to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the King and Queen's official residence in the Scottish capital, for the garden party.
Annabel Biddulp was one of four female members of the Royal Company of Archers, the Sovereign's Body Guard in Scotland, on duty at the social event with their bows.
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She described herself as the sixth generation of her family to be an Archer, with her father and uncle also on duty, and said the historic moment was "absolutely wonderful, so many of my family have been part of the Archers for generations".
Ms Biddulph was going to celebrate with a "jolly good party tonight" and said the King mentioned the trusty bow she was holding.
"He asked 'are you a dab hand at that' to which the answer was yes".
The garden party was staged in Holyroodhouse gardens, overlooked by Holyrood Park where Republic had staged a protest spelling out the words "Not My King" with what appeared to be large pieces of white card that was visible by guests.
Charles also chatted to Second World War veteran George McLeod, aged 99, who served as a private with the 4th Battalion, King's Own Scottish Borderers.
Mr McLeod was joined by his daughter Jan McLeod who said: "The King spoke about the VE Day events in London and said it was very important to keep the memories alive and how sad it was we were losing veterans."
She added her father was in the German city of Bremen when the war ended in 1945: "He was in communications and the first to hear the war was over, he's a bit of a joker, and no one believed him at first."
