 The next item of business is a debate on motion 8864 in the name of Humza Yousaf on the coronation of King Charles III and the Queen. I call on the First Minister to speak to and move the motion. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. Just under two weeks ago. The next item of business is a debate on motion 8864 in the name of Humza Yousaf on the coronation of King Charles III and the Queen. I call on the First Minister to speak to and move the motion. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. Just under two weeks ago, the Stone of Destiny began its journey to London for the coronation of their Majesty's King, Charles and Queen Camilla. I attended the ceremony at Edinburgh Castle, which marked that occasion in my role as keeper of the Great Seam. On Saturday, I represented Scotland at the coronation itself. As everyone who watched it will know, the coronation ceremony and the pageantry surrounding it were rooted in tradition, but it is also the case that some of the traditions had been updated to reflect modern values. The inclusion of a multi-faith element, for example, in this ceremony, was a particularly welcome change. That mix of the old and the new was also evident in wider celebrations. In Scotland, the tenor and scale of the festivities has been different from previous coronations, but in many parts of the country people still came together to watch the proceedings live with family, with friends and indeed with neighbours. Over the past few days, there have been street parties, there have been afternoon teas, there have been some special concerts and, of course, some religious services too. All across Scotland, people have taken the time to perform acts of service, in line with the coronation theme of helping out. I joined with some of them yesterday when I helped to pack food at the Wittfield community larder. There will, of course, be further events later this year when His Majesty is presented with the honours of Scotland at a ceremony in St Giles Cathedral. In July, during royal week, the Scottish Government will take the opportunity to present its majesties with coronation gifts on behalf of the people of Scotland. In doing so, we will be further marking an important constitutional milestone, but we will also be symbolising the respect, the goodwill that is felt by many people in Scotland for their majesties personally. That goodwill has been built up over many years. Her Majesty, Queen Camilla, has spoken often about her family's own Scottish roots, and indeed her affinity to Scotland. It was here that she undertook her very first public engagement, opening a school playground in Ballotar back in 2005. Since then, she has forged strong ties with communities right across the country, not least in a role as Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen. His Majesty's own affections for Scotland and especially for Balmoral are well known. He too carried out his first royal duties here. In 1965, the then 16-year-old Prince Charles met students at a garden party at Holyrood Palace. In the decade since, he has continued to serve through his patronage of many Scottish charities and institutions, and perhaps most notably of all through his work with the Prince's Trust. Indeed, it is his work with the Prince's Trust that I particularly want to highlight in that contribution. Of course, there are varied views about the Monarchay in Scotland. However, what is indisputable is the incredible work that the Prince's Trust has done with young people over many years, right across the UK, including of course right here in Scotland, too. I am sure that it is true for many members. I have seen the impact of that work first hand. In 2019, I visited the Prince's Trust Wilson Centre in Glasgow. I had the great pleasure—the enormous pleasure—of meeting some of the young people whose lives the trust had transformed. Every year in Scotland, more than 8,000 disadvantaged young people benefit from support that the Prince's Trust provides. Through its various programmes, they get opportunities to meet new people, to learn new skills, build their confidence and, as a result, they receive vital help in overcoming particularly challenging barriers and, of course, to realising their potential. Since it was established, the Prince's Trust has helped to improve the lives of many people right across the country. Its work is an important and enduring aspect of His Majesty's contribution to our society right here in Scotland. However, of course, the role that he has played in our national life goes and spans over many years. It goes well beyond the work that he has done with the Prince's Trust. As Prince of Wales, His Majesty has been there for us when Scotland has faced dark times in the aftermaths of Piper Alpha, the Lockerbie bombing and the Clutha helicopter crash. However, he has also shared with us many special moments from the opening of the 1988 Glasgow Garden Festival with Diana, the Princess of Wales, to the launch of COP26, when he spoke very powerfully indeed about the need for all of us to collectively tackle the climate emergency. Like his mother, His Majesty has also been a good friend to this very Parliament. He was present at our official opening in 1999. He joined us for our anniversary celebrations 20 years later. In 2021, he attended for the third time the kerking of the Parliament, the multi-faith service that we hold at the start of each new session. Last year, His Majesty addressed us in this very chamber for the first time a few days after his mother's death. He told us then that he was taking up his duties, and I quote, with thankfulness for all that Scotland has given me, with resolve to seek always the welfare of our country and its people, and with whole-hearted trust in your goodwill and good counsel as we take forward that task together. It continues to be the case that there are different views in this chamber, right across the country, about the institution of the monarchy. However, the commitment that His Majesty has made to serve the people is one that we all share. We have seen both their majesties demonstrate that commitment over many years. Whatever our constitutional views are, I think that it is right that this Parliament marks this moment by wishing them well. In doing so, we congratulate their majesties, King Charles and Queen Camilla, on their co-ordination. We thank them for their continuing service to Scotland, and we commit ourselves to working with them, helping them in discharging the great responsibilities that they hold. I move the motion in my name. It is a great privilege to speak on behalf of the Scottish Conservatives, celebrating the co-ordination of their majesties, King Charles III and Queen Camilla. It was an even greater privilege to witness the historic event at Westminster Abbey in person on Saturday. Just over 2,000 guests were in the abbey for the two-hour service, our own royal family, heads of state from around the world, members of European royal families, politicians and celebrities. There were also 450 British Empire medal recipients in the congregation. Among them were John Anderson from Fraserborough, who received his BEM in 2020 for his community work during the pandemic, and Mary Nelson from Forrest, who received her award in 2021 for the outstanding work that she did for the charity Murray Fresh Start. Scotland was also extremely well represented in the ceremony itself, with the moderator of the Church of Scotland, the Bishop of Murray, Roth and Caithness, and the Lord Lion, who I am delighted to see in the chamber with us this afternoon. On Saturday, those of us lucky enough to be in the abbey and millions across the UK and around the world were witness to the crowning of our new monarch, an event that has not happened in this country for 70 years, that reflected rituals and traditions that, in some cases, date as far back as the formation of Scotland and England as nations and included objects like St Edward's Chair and the Stone of Destiny, which have been associated with Coronations North and South of the Border for hundreds of years. For most of us, this was an event that we had only seen in black and white footage or read about in books, and it was made real before our very eyes. Yet, for all, we could see the weight of history amongst the grandeur, the rise of music and the pageantry of the moment, the message and the promise from the coronation ceremony and the celebrations over the weekend was a simple one. Service. Indeed, that was the theme of the very first words from the King during the coronation. Replying to Samuel Strachan, his Majesty said, I come not to be served but to serve. Service to our country and the Commonwealth. Service to all its people, regardless of their background and faith, and service to our natural world. Through this promise, his Majesty is continuing with the ideals and values of monarchy so resolutely upheld by his late mother over the long decades of her reign. He is also showing the vision of a modern monarchy that he intends to lead. As he said on the day after he became monarch, wherever you may live in the United Kingdom or in the realms and territories across the world, and whatever may be your background or beliefs, I shall endeavour to serve you, with loyalty, respect and love, as I have throughout my life. That was a concept of service that encompassed the events of the whole weekend. Sunday's big lunch was about bringing people together to celebrate community and to tackle loneliness. While Monday's big help-out was about getting more people involved and volunteering in their area, last night it was estimated that 6 million people had taken part in the big help-out, and that figure is expected to increase further when the final numbers are known. It has also been reported that almost 8 million people have now said that they are more likely to volunteer and help out as a result of that celebration. Just one of the positive legacies from an incredible weekend. As we look to the years ahead, we see a monarchy that has renewed its promise and commitment to the British people. As our country changes with the passing of time, the monarchy provides a tangible and constant link to our past and heritage, yet, as we saw with the Coordination weekend, the monarchy itself is not fixed in history. It changes and evolves to reflect the modern values of our whole country. Where once a monarch would have been regarded as the defender of the faith, his Majesty pledged to defend all-face, a promise proudly underscored by the presence of religious leaders from all-face at his coronation. His Majesty is committed to promoting inclusivity and diversity of our modern United Kingdom. With our country facing difficult and challenging times, the King has committed to put service at the heart of his reign. We, on this side of the chamber, wish their Majesties a long, happy and healthy reign, and I close by repeating the words that we, as a congregation said on Saturday, long live King Charles. God save the King. I thank the Royal Highnesses, King Charles and Queen Camilla on their coronation. Like others, I was honoured to attend the ceremony in Westminster Abbey at the weekend. It was a great privilege to witness history being made. However, while the coronation itself was incredible, in many ways what it meant to so many was even more incredible. I, of course, meant for those who were part of celebrations taking place across the country, but I mean more than that. Right across the UK, friends, neighbours and communities came together to mark this historic moment, from vibrant street parties to casual get-togethers to those who simply enjoyed a long weekend with loved ones. These are communities bound together not by ceremony or duty, but by common interest and friendship. I also mean the volunteers on the day. I had the great pleasure in speaking to a number of volunteers at the coronation, and in particular to the young scouts. You could see and hear how much it meant to them and to their families, and to the charities—something that is close to King Charles' heart—to all the charities that were represented at the coronation. To them it felt like a recognition of their efforts and an acknowledgement of the vital services that they provide. I was struck by the chief executive of Maggies, a centre across the country that provides invaluable service to those who are undergoing cancer treatment and their families. There were countless other charities that were represented at the coronation. Globally, millions across the world will have watched with great affection for both our royal family and our country. And these historic moments are a chance to take stock of what our country is and what it should always strive to be. Do not only cherish our country's history, but to look forward to our future, to consider the values that we want our country to represent and the role that we want to play in the world. In the new king and queen, we can see those values of public service and duty. And of course we saw all those values lived every single day in the life of Queen Elizabeth. The world changed immeasurably during her extraordinary reign, but her duty, her integrity, her warmth and her service to others never wavered for a moment. She demonstrated strength, leadership and compassion when our country needed it the most. I know that as we enter this new era, the new king and queen will continue that extraordinary legacy and uphold those timeless values. King Charles had to swear an oath to be the protector of the faith, but he also committed to be a protector of the faith, a recognition of our rich culture, history and diversity, and I am sure that he will strive to reign with that same wisdom, compassion, integrity and justice. With unity, compassion and community for our country, values that I hope all of us would share right across this country to build a better and fairer future. In closing, I wish the king and queen a long and happy reign. God save the king. It also gives me great pleasure to offer on behalf of the Scottish Liberal Democrats our warmest congratulations to King Charles III and Queen Camilla on the occasion of their coronation. If I am honest, I was not always sure what I thought about the institution of monarchy, but the acts of commemoration that marked the passing of her late Majesty last September reminded me of the example set by Queen Elizabeth II. The memory of her steadfast devotion to the people of these islands reassured me of the value of having a steadying, politically neutral influence at the top of our system of government. I think that my position and the position of a great many of our citizens was summarised succinctly in the words of another sat in that ancient abbey on Satie. In a letter to his fans, who were incredulous at his decision to attend the coronation, a legendary Australian musician Nick Cave wrote, I am not a monarchist nor am I a royalist nor am I an ardent republican for that matter. What I am also not is so spectacularly incurious about the world and the way it works, so ideologically captured and so damn grouchy as to refuse an invitation to what more likely be the most important historical event in the UK of our age, not just the most important but also the strangest, the weirdest. Presiding officer, for many people the coronation was all of those things. There is something unique and strangely comforting about those rites and rituals that have spanned a thousand years. The Elizabethan age was marked by the constancy of our late Queen's reign. Thanks to her, the institution of monarchy is now steeped in the tradition of public service. Indeed, as we heard from Douglas Ross, the first words spoken by the new king on Saturday were, I come not to be served, but to serve. In the example of his late mother, we can see the promise in those words, and to his credit is an example that King Charles has sought to emulate. Indeed, the King and Queen have already exhibited huge commitment to public service in their previous lives. Combined, they are patrons of over 900 charities. King Charles has a long and proud history of supporting youth work, something very dear to me, and championing environmentalism. It was he who first publicly warned against the effects of plastic pollution over 50 years ago, and he deserves credit for turning down the offer of having terminal five that he throw named after him because of the importance of tackling aviation in terms of the climate emergency. Our new queen is also known for her public service, and her Majesty has done extremely worthwhile work, particularly advocating for the safety and protection of women and girls. Indeed, in 2013, she established an initiative for providing sexual assault referral centres with wash bags filled with toiletries, a scheme that now operates the country over. So I wish them well, and I hope in the years ahead that they will continue to defend the values that make our country great. Firstly, in upholding democracy and free speech, we are a country that proudly finds disagreement on almost every topic. We should never be a country that seeks to stifle either side of that disagreement, as we saw in the troubling actions of the Met Police in London on Saturday, arresting Republican protesters. Secondly, I hope also that the King would want people to have confidence in the transparency of his reign. At present, as we have discussed before, the Crown Consent Procedure allows monarchs lawyers to flag concern about legislation and request changes. My party has been clear that those details and interventions should be made public, like all institutions. We have a right to know how legislative decisions are made. That is a cornerstone of our democracy. We are a quirky people. Our traditions, our eccentricities and our humour are part of the rich composition that makes up the culture and identity of these islands, so well captured in the words of Nick Cave. Saturday marked a moment in our national story, a turning of the page. I was very glad to have been a tiny part of that. God save the king. Thank you, and that concludes the debate on the coronation of King Charles III and the Queen. It is now time to move on to the next item of business and I will allow a moment for benches to organise themselves.