The Duke of Kent Attends a Drumhead Service at the Scottish Palace of Holyroodhouse
Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent, attended a Drumhead Service in the gardens of the Palace of Holyroodhouse this afternoon. His cousin, Queen Elizabeth, was unable to attend due to weather conditions.
The event marked the 50th anniversary of the formation of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, Scotland's senior regiment. The Queen and Prince Edward are Colonel-in-Chief and Deputy Colonel-in-Chief of the Regiment respectively.
The Queen was due to travel to the event by helicopter, but predicted weather conditions made this challenging. Per a statement released by Buckingham Palace, travel disruption was deemed likely, and Her Majesty wished to avoid any delay to the service.
A little over fifty years ago, on July 2nd, 1971, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Edward stood in roughly the same spot in Holyrood Park to witness the formation of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, which was an amalgamation of the 3rd Carabiniers and The Royal Scots Greys.
A Drumhead Service is an Army ecumenical service where the Regiment's drums are placed on top of each other to form an altar. The tradition dates back to the 1700s, and was originally held in the field during armed conflict, to provide soldiers with an opportunity for religious reflection and prayer in the absence of a church.
Traditionally, Queen Elizabeth spends a week of each summer in Scotland for a series of local engagements, in what's known as "Holyrood Week" or "Royal Week". After last year's Holyrood Week was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tradition resumed this year. The Queen was joined by Prince William and Princess Anne for various engagements across Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Stirling, as she visited business, charities and cultural institutions that work to "further community engagement, education, technology, and efforts to combat climate change."
The Queen usually hosts a throng of guests for her famous Holyrood Week garden party at the Palace, but this year's event was canceled due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions.
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