Newly crowned King and Queen announce details of first official visit to the Scottish Borders
Last updated 27th Jun 2023
The King and Queen have announced details of their first official trip to the Borders since they were Crowned last month.
Charles and Camilla are planning to visit the Great Tapestry of Scotland visitor centre in Galashiels next Thursday (July 6th) to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Tapestry’s unveiling.
During their tour, their Majesties will meet some of the people involved in what's being described as "one of the world’s largest community arts projects".
They include author Alexander McCall Smith, who conceived the idea of The Great Tapestry; fundraiser and tour manager Jan Rutherford; artist Andrew Crummy MBE; and Alistair Moffat, a historian who decided which episodes in Scottish history would feature.
And the former Duchess of Cornwall - who was forced to cancel her visit to the attraction last September when the late Queen Elizabeth II died - will also be invited to add the final stitch to a new panel to mark the milestone.
Speaking ahead of The Royal visit, Sandy Maxwell-Forbes, Centre Director at The Great Tapestry of Scotland, said: “It is the greatest honour to be welcoming The King and Queen to The Great Tapestry of Scotland in Galashiels. I look forward to introducing them to some of the individuals who were instrumental in creating the Tapestry and one of the nation’s top-rated visitor experiences right here in Galashiels.
“This marks a significant moment in the Tapestry’s extraordinary success story and, as the home of the people’s story of Scotland, we wanted to commemorate this by revealing a new tapestry panel dedicated to our recently crowned King and Queen. This will build on the Tapestry’s intricately detailed panels already dedicated to telling Scotland’s royal history.”
In celebration of the Royal visit, the visitor centre (pictured above) will be open to the public for free from 1pm to 5pm on July 6th to give everyone an opportunity to be among the first to see a specially designed panel commemorating the historic occasion.
A spokesperson for the attraction added: "Now in its permanent home in the once thriving textile region of the Scottish Borders, The Great Tapestry of Scotland tells a visually compelling account of the people’s story of Scotland from millions of years BC to present day.
"This includes key moments in royal history such as the stories of King Macbeth, St Margaret of Scotland, Mary Queen of Scots and her son James VI of Scotland and I of England, Queen Victoria and her particular love of Scotland, and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation."
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The visit comes a day after King Charles and Queen Camilla are due to attend a national service of thanksgiving at St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh, which will include two processions up and down the Royal Mile.
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