Royal tradition with power to please the crowds on High St

Queen Mother and the Duke of Edinburgh were taken by a horse-drawn carriage as part of a procession following the well-trodden path from Holyrood Palace to the Cathedral.

Among the crowds that day was the well-known protester Pastor Jack Glass, who was among a small group of demonstrators who said they were protesting about the way the Church of Scotland was 
“manipulating” the monarch.

Her Majesty has been taking part in the ceremony for a long time, however, and 
attended in 1952 when the 
Cathedral was surrounded by the Royal Company of Archers – her official bodyguards – for a special salute as she made her way inside.

The history of the Order was celebrated in 1987, when the Lord Lyon King of Arms – then Malcolm Innes of Edinburgh – showed illustrations of four heraldic stamps 
created to celebrate the 300th anniversary of its revival.