The King and Queen are to attend the opening of the seventh session of the Scottish Parliament on Saturday, with a day of pageantry, poetry and musical performances at Holyrood.
The ceremony, broadcast live from 11.30am on the Scottish Parliament’s website and television channel, marks the formal start of the new parliamentary term following the May 2026 election. It will be the first time King Charles III has performed the role since the creation of the seventh session.
Crown and sword lead the procession
The day will begin with the Crown of Scotland being escorted from Edinburgh Castle down the Royal Mile to the Parliament building, accompanied by the Elizabeth Sword. The Crown, which has been present at the opening ceremony of every Scottish Parliament since its reconvening in 1999, will be carried into the debating chamber by the Duke of Hamilton and Brandon, escorted by the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the Reverend Canon Dr Joseph John Morrow.
The Elizabeth Sword will be carried by boxer Nicholas Devlin, one of three Team Scotland athletes preparing to compete in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow this summer. He will be accompanied by para track athlete Joanna Robertson and bowls player Beth Riva, who is making her Commonwealth Games debut and is the niece of the legendary Alex Marshall MBE. Riva won the World Indoor Bowls Championship mixed pairs title in 2025.
A third ceremonial item, the parliamentary mace – made of silver and gold and presented to the Parliament by Queen Elizabeth II upon its official opening in July 1999 – will be carried in by Robert White, an administrator at Holyrood. The mace represents the authority of the Scottish Parliament to make laws.
The procession will enter the debating chamber through a guard of honour formed by young people from organisations including the Scottish Youth Parliament, RNIB Scotland and the Young Women’s Movement.
Young people at the heart of proceedings
Caitlin Davis, a 20-year-old PE student at the University of Edinburgh, is one of those taking part in the guard of honour. From Cumbernauld in North Lanarkshire, she has been helping to promote sport among young people as part of a Sportscotland panel.
“I just think team sports have so much to offer young people – like learning how to communicate and just how to let loose,” she said. “I’m just so lucky now because this summer is rife with sport in so many different ways. To be able to come to an amazing event like this from a sports lens is so cool.”
She described her role as carrying “lots of responsibility” but said it would be exciting. “It’s going to be incredible to be a part of it, I’m looking forward to it.”
The Officers of Arms will be joined by young people from a range of organisations, and three Team Scotland athletes – Devlin, Robertson and Riva – will carry the Crown, sword and mace in the main procession.
Music, poetry and anniversaries
Once the King and Queen have taken their places, the ceremony will begin with a fanfare performed by the brass ensemble of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Presiding Officer Kenneth Gibson – elected to the role on 14 May 2026 – will give his opening remarks before Charles addresses the chamber to formally open the session. First Minister John Swinney will respond to the monarch’s speech.
The cultural programme highlights two major Scottish arts milestones. The National Youth Choir of Scotland is celebrating its 30th anniversary, and members of its Edinburgh regional choir and BSL youth choir will perform Sarah Quartel’s The Beat Of A Different Drum. The National Theatre of Scotland, marking its 20th anniversary, will present As Others See Us, written and directed by Martin O’Connor. The piece incorporates a poem to celebrate the theatre’s anniversary and an excerpt from its production Through The Shortbread Tin, performed by members of the Lyceum Youth Theatre.
Scotland’s Makar (national poet), Pàdraig MacAoidh, will deliver a specially commissioned poem in Gaelic titled Let This Hall Be Full Of Noises, accompanied by an English translation. Harpist Rachel Groves – winner of the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2026 – and vocalist Ellie Beaton, winner of the same award in 2025, will perform Robert Burns’s Ae Fond Kiss.
To close the event, MSP Stuart McMillan, the Parliament’s piper, will perform Bonnie Dundee and A Hundred Pipers in the members’ garden.
Local heroes and royal engagement
Following the formal proceedings, the King and Queen will meet local heroes nominated by MSPs for their “extraordinary contribution” to communities across Scotland.
The seventh session of the Scottish Parliament was established after the 2026 Scottish Parliamentary election. The institution first convened in its current form on 12 May 1999, following a referendum in 1997 that led to the re-establishment of a parliament dissolved in 1707 by the Acts of Union. The King and Queen previously attended a special event at Holyrood in 2024 to mark the Parliament’s 25th anniversary.
