Prince William attends the Closing of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland

On their final day of their tour of Scotland, the Earl and Countess of Strathearn, also known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, attended the Closing of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. The Earl was supposed to be Lord High Commissioner at the General Assembly last May but the event was canceled because of the global health crisis.

The Earl, who was appointed by The Queen as her personal representative, joined the small number of people present in the assembly hall. Commissioners and other attendees joined the event remotely from across Scotland and around the world. The Countess wore a Catherine Walker coat accessorised with The Queen’s Floral Bouquet Brooch. The brooch was previously borrowed by the Countess for the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey in 2018.

During the closing ceremony, the Earl delivered a speech in his role as Lord High Commissioner. He said it had been an ‘honour’ to represent his grandmother and he enjoyed his first meeting with the First Minister earlier this week.

He said: “Catherine and I came here to listen, so we might learn more about your challenges, but also, to learn of your hopes and aspirations, so that we may serve alongside you with the combination of humility and conviction that speaks so powerfully to us.

“As I sat in Canongate Kirk last Sunday listening to Neil Gardner’s sermon, I felt particularly fortunate that my week as Lord High Commissioner coincides with Pentecost. A week that celebrates the way in which the Holy Spirit kindled within Jesus’s early followers a desire to learn from others – whose tongues they could now understand – and to share far and wide the Christian message of love and service. I have kept this message at the forefront of my mind all week.“

The Earl then thanked members of the Church of Scotland for the work they’ve done throughout the pandemic and wished the congregation ‘renewed strength’ in their endeavours.

The Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the Scottish Sovereign’s personal representative to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland (the Kirk.) As part of the national church of Scotland, the Sovereign serves as protector and member of that church. The Assembly comes at the very end of the Earl and Countess’ royal tour of Scotland. Throughout the last week, the couple visited Edinburgh and Fife, and they also embarked on their first official joint trip to Orkney.