2023-07-05 16:15:00
King Charles III and Queen Camilla took part in a ceremony in Edinburgh in honor of their recent coronation on Wednesday, welcomed in the Scottish capital by a crowd of supporters and some anti-monarchy campaigners.
As tradition dictates, the royal couple left Holyroodhouse Palace in a procession to attend a religious service in St. Giles Cathedral.
The attributes of royal power in Scotland – the Crown of Scotland, the Scepter and the Sword of State, known as ‘the honors of Scotland’ – were presented to the sovereign.
Thousands of people had gathered to watch the royal couple, accompanied by Prince William and his wife Kate, pass as 21 cannons were fired from the ramparts of Edinburgh Castle.
Scotland occupies a special place for the British royal family, where the late Queen Elizabeth II regularly stayed and where she died in September at her Balmoral castle.
But support for the monarchy is weaker in Scotland, led by an independentist government, than in the whole of the United Kingdom.
If the Scottish Prime Minister Humza Yousaf, openly republican, was present at the cathedral, several elected officials of the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) criticized the ceremony.
‘Not My King’
And as in previous trips by Charles III to the country since his accession to the throne, the king was also greeted by anti-monarchy activists, placards ‘Not My King’ (‘Not my king’) in hand.
The advent of Charles, less popular than his late mother Queen Elizabeth II, awakened the republican current in the country.
During his coronation on May 6, hundreds of pro-Republic demonstrators gathered in Trafalgar Square to demand the abolition of the monarchy.
Six activists from the Republic group, including its leader Graham Smith, were arrested before being released at the end of the day, sparking criticism of police action.
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