King attends Ceremony of the Keys to mark start of scaled back Holyrood Week

The King has been presented with the keys to the City of Edinburgh in an ancient ceremony marking the start of a two-day visit to Scotland.

His Majesty was handed the keys on a red velvet cushion by the Lord Provost at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, his official residence in Edinburgh.

He wore a blue suit rather than the kilt he donned for last year’s ceremony, his first as monarch.

The traditional Ceremony of the Keys signals the start of Holyrood Week, the sovereign’s annual July visit to the country to celebrate Scottish culture, community and achievement.

This year’s events have been reduced to just two days due to the general election. The Royal Family last month postponed any engagements that may have appeared to “divert attention or distract from the election campaign”.

The King, 75, will also be required in London at the end of the week as the newly elected Prime Minister visits him to ask permission to form a new Government.

The King and Queen, 76, flew to Edinburgh by helicopter from Birkhall, their Scottish home, where they had spent the weekend.

The monarch was greeted by a guard of honour provided by Balaklava Company, 5th Battalion in the gardens of the palace. He received a Royal Salute before inspecting the troops through an avenue of Archers, the ceremonial unit that serves as the King’s bodyguard in Scotland.

A royal gun salute was simultaneously fired at Edinburgh Castle to mark his arrival.

The Lord Provost, Councillor Robert Aldridge, then presented the Keys to the City of Edinburgh to His Majesty, saying: “We, the Lord Provost and the members of the City of Edinburgh Council, welcome Your Majesty to the capital city of your Ancient and Hereditary Kingdom of Scotland and offer for your gracious acceptance the Keys of Your Majesty’s good City of Edinburgh.”

According to tradition, the King merely touched them before returning them to the Lord Provost for safe keeping, replying: “I return these keys, being perfectly convinced that they cannot be placed in better hands than those of the Lord Provost and Councillors of my good City of Edinburgh.”

Music was provided by The Band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland and Pipes and Drums of 2nd Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland.

In the audience was D-Day veteran Cyril Bird, 100, from Edinburgh, who was serving with the Royal Tank Regiment in Normandy.

His wife, Liz, said: “As a country we do this thing really well. It’s so important to keep these traditions alive and well and very important to my husband and fellow D-Day veterans to be here.

“It’s also marvellous to see the King looking so well considering everything he is going through.”

Queen mingles with literary royalty

The Queen was later hailed for her “infectiously enthusiastic bookishness” as she hosted a literary reception at the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

Guests including authors Sir Alexander McCall Smith and Sir Ian Rankin mingled with local publishing industry representatives and book shop owners.

Sir Ian said Edinburgh was “a very inspiring place”, adding: “Although it’s a very small city it’s like Doctor Who’s Tardis, it’s much bigger on the inside because it has all these different versions of itself in there waiting to be explored by writers of various hues.”

He told the Queen that he was currently signing “lots of sheets of paper” for signed editions of his new book and that his wife had made him promise he would take a break after his latest one.

Earlier, the King held an investiture, knighting, among others, Sir Alexander, creator of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, which has sold more than 20 million copies in the English language alone.

Sir Alexander said his knighthood was a “wonderful thing” and that his famous fictional detective Mma Precious Ramotswe would be “very happy” for him after being honoured by the King.

He said: “The King is marvellous, he’s an example to all of us, he does all these things and does them so beautifully in such a friendly fashion.”

Others honoured included Paul Mealor, professor of composition at the University of Aberdeen, who composed Coronation Kyrie for the King’s Coronation last year.

The King, accompanied by the Queen and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, later attended a garden party at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, where he asked to stay later than planned in order to meet as many people as possible.

Among the guests was a rescue dog called Kratu from Transylvania, which the King could not resist stroking.

Tess Eagle Swan, the owner for whom Kratu is an Autism support dog, said afterwards that His Majesty, who has a number of homes in Transylvania and visits the region regularly, told her that he knew the breed, which is normally used for guarding.

“He was taken with how gentle he was,” she said.

The King was also tickled as he chatted with vicar Rev Mark Miller from Stockton-on-Tees, Co Durham.

Mr Miller said afterwards: “I told His Majesty, ‘Welcome to the fun section,’ and he was in hysterics.”