Huge security operation including lifting floor of St Giles Cathedral for King's visit

A major security operation that includes lifting the floor of St Giles’ Cathedral is under way ahead of the historic event to mark the Coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla.

St Giles Cathedral will be the focus of events on Wednesday

The special ceremony to present King Charles with the Honours of Scotland will be held in Edinburgh on Wednesday in one of the final events to mark his accession to the throne.

Intelligence reports suggest protesters will try to disrupt the occasion, prompting a huge security response. Part of this includes lifting sections of the flooring of the medieval building, with other security sweeps continuing.

The 14th century cathedral hosted morning services yesterday conducted by St Giles' minister the Rev Calum MacLeod as well as its weekly Sunday evening St Giles' at Six concert, featuring the San Francisco Boys Chorus. However, it was closed to tourists and sightseers.

Very Reverend Professor David Fergusson, Dean of the Chapel Royal in Scotland, has shared his own personal appreciation of the monarch and her 70-year reign and expressed his “sense of privilege” to be involved in the Queen’s funeral

Preparations in and around the cathedral are expected to become more visible from today.

Security measures will include cordoning off sections of the Royal Mile, with road closures and air restrictions for drones planned around the event itself. Police Scotland has said it will take a "proactive engagement approach" with demonstrators in order that the event passes "safely and securely and with dignity".

The force has been working alongside the Scottish Government, the Palace of Holyroodhouse and City of Edinburgh Council, as well as with transport organisations, to underpin planning for the ceremony.

Assistant Chief Constable Tim Mairs, police commander for the event, said the force had "engaged" with protest groups, and described the force's "human rights based approach and legislation that applies in Scotland" as unique amongst UK policing.

King Charles III and Queen Camilla during a visit last week

He said: "Our priority is public safety. A policing plan is in place to maintain people’s safety, ensure the safe delivery of this significant event, enable peaceful protest and minimise disruption.

"Decisions about how to police protests require us to balance complex and often competing rights and issues. We have a legal duty to protect the rights of people who wish to peacefully protest or counter-protest.

"Campaigning and demonstration is a legitimate, necessary and vital part of life. Abusive, threatening behaviour or activity intended to disrupt the event that risks public safety is not legitimate protest."

King Charles is said to have personally ensured that Wednesday's "Scottish Coronation" ceremony reflects his deep love for Scotland.

His Majesty will be formally presented with the Scottish Crown during the National Service of Thanksgiving.

The ceremony will mirror the Service of Dedication and Thanksgiving attended by his mother Elizabeth II on her first visit to Scotland as Queen in 1953.But the King has added elements that mark his affection for, and involvement in, many aspects of Scottish life.

At his request, the service will include a psalm sung in Gaelic and passages in the Scots language -- including part of the first Scots translation of the New Testament -- and the songs of Robert Burns.

It will be conducted by the Very Reverend Professor David Fergusson, Dean of His Majesty’s Chapel Royal in Scotland, who said: "It is very much a Scottish service. It’s a celebration and a dedication to the common good of Scotland."From his earliest days, the King has had close ties with Scotland. He went to school, after all, in Scotland; he has close links with the Balmoral Estate on which he spends a good deal of time; but he is also engaged with other parts of the country as a working Royal."The King has done great work at Dumfries House in Cumnock recently and so he is very involved in different aspects of Scottish public life, not just in the North-East and the Highlands but across the country, and that will be reflected in the service."The King himself is very keen that all these elements of Scottish life be represented and that there be Gaelic and Scots in the service."There will be Burns songs featuring at different points so it’s very much a Scottish occasion and that is the way the King wants it to be."Professor Fergusson, 66, added: "It’s very much a celebration that will involve people from all around Scotland -- a service of thanksgiving for what we hold in common and a service of dedication in which we will dedicate ourselves again to the common good of our country."We are following the precedent of course that was established in 1953 when Queen Elizabeth came to St Giles’ to receive the Honours of Scotland."The Minister of St Giles' Cathedral was the Dean of the Chapel Royal at that time and was responsible in that capacity for organising the service, so I'm following that precedent that Charles Warr established in 1953."We are repeating the practice of presenting the Scottish Regalia to the king, which was established in 1953, but of course the Stone of Destiny will be present in the centre of the church -- it wasn’t in 1953 as it was still down in Westminster Abbey. That will be a new element in the service, having been brought down from Edinburgh Castle for the occasion."A People’s Procession will be led by the Royal Regiment of Scotland, Shetland pony mascot Corporal Cruachan IV and supported by cadet musicians from the Combined Cadet Force Pipes and Drums, 51 Brigade Cadet Military Band.A firm royal favourite, 14-year-old Cruachan IV famously tried to chew the late Queen’s bouquet in 2016, during a visit to Stirling Castle.