Strong royal presence for Highland Show this year

Published on Thursday 4 June 2009 19:02

THE Highland Show, due to be staged at Ingliston on the outskirts of Edinburgh on 25-28 June will certainly live up to its Royal title, with three members of the House of Windsor visiting what is now the UK's largest agricultural show.

The Queen, who is patron of the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, will visit the show on Thursday, 24 June to mark the 225th anniversary of the event.

She will be accompanied by the Princess Royal, a regular visitor for many years.

On the first day of the show the royal guest will be Princess Alexandra.

The Queen visited the show in 1984 to mark the bicentenary of the RHASS. Her father, King George VI, bestowed the "royal" accolade on the Highland in 1948 in Inverness back in the days when the event moved around Scotland each year before settling at its current home in 1960.

RHASS chief executive Ray Jones said: "We are delighted to welcome the Queen as our patron and the other royal visitors. The Royal Family have been strong supporters of the society and its activities over the years and we look forward to pointing out some of the show highlights."

This year's Royal Highland Show promises to be something extra special – livestock entries are at record levels while the trade stand space was sold out months ago.

It is also anticipated that there will be a large number of visitors from overseas in this the year of "Homecoming Scotland".