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Two weeks after the state funeral for Queen Elizabeth II and the end of the royal mourning period last week, King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla went on their first joint official engagement, a trip to Dunfermline in Scotland with a special significance. As a part of the late queen’s Platinum Jubilee, the town of 60,000 was awarded the status of city earlier this year, and Charles and Camilla’s Monday visit was meant to make the award official, and they brought a letters patent originally commissioned by his late mother before her death in September.
The new king arrived wearing a kilt, while Camilla wore a kelly green coat. The BBC reports that the couple visited Dunfermline Abbey to mark its 950th anniversary. The queen also visited for its 900th anniversary celebrations back in 1972. Charles and Camilla were greeted by Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and well-wishers who crowded the streets.
In a speech during the event, Charles told the crown that he hoped they would find a “sense of pride” in the new development. “That would, I know, gladden my dear mother’s heart, as it certainly gladdens mine,” he added. “As you celebrate your well-deserved status as Scotland’s new City, I can only offer my warmest congratulations, and my heartfelt wishes for the years to come.”
Earlier this year, as a part of Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebration, eight towns were elevated to the status of city through a special set of honors. Back in March, before the death of his mother, Charles and Camilla visited Southend-on-Sea in Essex to present the letters patent in honor of Davis Amess, a member of parliament who was murdered last November. At the time, the queen was recovering from her bout of COVID-19, and Charles told the gathered onlookers that her case was mild.
In his remarks on Monday, the king referenced the fact that the award to Dunfermline was also intended to take place in happier times. “Now, of course, we gather to celebrate this great occasion but also to commemorate the life of Her late Majesty, whose deep love for Scotland was one of the foundations of her life,” he said. “There could be no more fitting way to mark my beloved mother’s extraordinary life of service than by granting this honor to a place made famous by its own long and distinguished history, and by the indispensable role it has played in the life of our country.”
During his time in the new city, he signed a guest book, and he used the opportunity to make light of the first meme to emerge from his reign: his frustration with pens. “These things are so temperamental,” he said, according to the Telegraph, as he handed a pen to his wife.
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