Lord Lieutenant welcomes Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to Edinburgh

The Lord Lieutenant Frank Ross welcomed the newly engaged royal couple Prince Harry and Ms Meghan Markle to Edinburgh earlier this morning.

Large crowds lined the route from the Hub up to the Castle Esplanade, although they were kept behind barriers and there was a low key but visible security presence.

The Lord Lieutenant introduced the royal visitors to Susan Wilson Principal Officer of the American Consulate in Edinburgh , Depute Council Leader Cammy Day, Alex Paterson CEO of Historic Environment Scotland and Rev Calum MacLeod of St Giles Cathedral.

They then visited the castle and watched the One o’clock gun being fired.

Ms Markle is introduced to Susan Wilson is the Principal Officer for the U.S. Consulate General in Edinburgh

The Royal Marine band was playing on the esplanade. Prince Harry took over as Captain General of the Royal Marines in December from his grandfather Prince Philip who had been the ceremonial head for 46 years.

Prince Harry commented that this was Ms Markle’s first visit to Scotland but that they would not be staying any longer than today, so who knows what plans he has for his fiancée on Valentine’s Day?

Ms Markle was wearing a full length tartan coat and yet again favoured a green Strathberry handbag to accompany her warm outfit. Strathberry is an Edinburgh based luxury label, founded in 2013 and last time Ms Markle sported one of their handbags it sold out in hours. This East/West Mini bag retails at £395 and is already on their waiting list.

In his role Lord Lieutenant, the Lord Provost greets members of the Royal Family and visiting heads of state. If the Lord Lieutenant is unable to be present he may ask a Deputy Lieutenant to represent him, and he has done this by asking Philip Young DL and Chair of OneCityTrust to greet the royal couple at Social Bite in the city centre.