Next we walked down through Cannongate to Queensberry House (part of the Parliament complex) but the police wouldn't let us go any further. We soon saw why - The Royal limo was coming out of the palace gates and headed up our way.
I'm not a photographer by any stretch but if you look halfway between the car and the gate here you'll see a pink dot. That's the Queen's hat and it was attached to her head. We actually got a good view of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh but I missed the photo. (This is as the Queen and the Duke are being ushered into the Queensberry gate. The gates of The Palace of Holyrood House are barely visible at the bottom of the hill with the concentration of red Scots Guards uniforms.)
(Why does the Duke always look so grumpy?)
Afterwards things quieted down so we weren't sure what to do next. (Not wanting to miss any excitement you understand.) There were some folks from the BBC behind us talking on their mobile phones so we listened. Turns out there was to be a parade coming up just after the opening was finished so we just walked down the street a bit to directly across from the gate Her Majesty had entered and waited.
Not long after all the ministers, many with family in tow, came out and walked quite a ways up the street and joined in the parade.
Here are some parade pics:
Don't know who this pipeband is but thery were wearing royal crests.
There were soldiers:
Youth pipe bands:
Vikings:
(I looked for David, Sten and Porrick but they seemed to have sat this raid out.)
The Red Hot Chili Pipers (who gave a concert in the park later.)
As well as lots lots more.
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