Photo: © Sandy Young / Alamy Stock Photo

In the weeks after the passing of HM Queen Elizabeth II, the team at EICC share their memories of The Queen’s visits to Edinburgh.

As thousands of Edinburgh locals queued to visit The Queen as she lay in state at St Giles Cathedral, it’s hard to believe that only a few months earlier, she had appeared in the city in good spirits on her yearly trip to open Holyrood Week (known as Royal Week, here in Scotland). Taking place at the start of each summer, this annual celebration of Scottish people and culture traditionally begins with a ceremony at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Queen’s official residence in Scotland, where the Lord Provost offers her the keys to the city, welcoming the monarch to her ‘ancient and hereditary kingdom of Scotland’. In the following days, the Queen would welcome up to 8,000 visitors to the palace gardens for a celebratory Garden Party, where she would personally greet many of the guests herself.

This year’s presentation of the key ceremony was particularly special as it was the Queen’s first public appearance since the Platinum Jubilee celebrations - she had been cutting back on engagements due to mobility issues but managed to honour the tradition, as well as attending a parade of the armed forces in the palace gardens the following day.

"The fact that she wanted to take part in both the arrival ceremony and now she's here in her palace in the centre of Edinburgh and coming out into the garden to see her armed forces is really special," said Maj Gen Bruce, who reported that the Queen was in "first class, sparkling form."

The parade and the presentation of the key to Edinburgh Castle marked the 200th anniversary of King George IV's visit to Scotland in 1822 when the castle key was presented to the sovereign for the first time.

"As well as being involved with over 30 Edinburgh-based charities as part of her famous dedication to voluntary service, The Queen has also taken the time to lead royal openings of many historic landmarks."

Just three months later on Monday 12 September, Charles, now King, was offered the same gesture from Lord Provost Robert Aldridge when he arrived in the capital to lead the royal family in procession as his mother’s coffin was taken from Holyrood to St Giles.

With such an enduring love for Scotland and its people, the Queen’s visits to its capital city were not only limited to Royal Week. As well as being involved with over 30 Edinburgh-based charities as part of her famous dedication to voluntary service, The Queen has also taken the time to lead royal openings of many historic landmarks from the Forth Road Bridge and the Queensferry Crossing to the EICC itself.

When she honoured us by cutting the ribbon in July 1996, Karen D’Ulisse was one of the Duty Managers at the time, and one of the select few who was chosen to meet the Queen. 

"Everyone in the team was very excited to be welcoming the Queen, so much planning had gone into ensuring that the building was pristine and that everything ran extremely smoothly," explains Karen. "I was new to the Duty Management team and I was worried about making a fool of myself, having never met someone of such great importance!

"What really stood out to me when I met the Queen was how warm and engaging she was - it really felt like she was genuinely interested in meeting the EICC team."

The Queen met many people that day, including 12-year-old Laura Boyle from Lanarkshire, who earned an invite to the ceremony after winning her primary school’s competition for suggesting room names for the new EICC. Laura presented a bouquet of pink roses to the Queen on her arrival. 

"What really stood out to me when I met the Queen was how warm and engaging she was - it really felt like she was genuinely interested in meeting the EICC team."

Just one year later, the Queen returned to the EICC, this time in her role as Head of the Commonwealth, welcoming world leaders to Edinburgh for the biennial Commonwealth summit, which we were honoured to host.

"I felt it was a great honour to Scotland for her to have spent her final days at Balmoral, especially as we often hear that this was where the Queen felt the happiest."

Speaking in the Scottish Parliament at the opening of a new Holyrood session in October 2021, the Queen said: "I have spoken before of my deep and abiding affection for this wonderful country and of the many happy memories Prince Philip and I always held of our time here. It is often said that it is the people that make a place. And there are few places where this is truer than in Scotland."