King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla in Dunfermline

King Charles III today paid a moving tribute to his late mother on his first public engagement with his wife since the Queen’s death.

His Majesty and the Queen Consort Camilla formally conferred city status on Dunfermline as part of Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations – and the monarch said the event would ‘gladden my dear mother’s heart, as it certainly gladdens mine’.

Charles and Camilla were welcomed to Fife by community groups including a local pipe band and schoolchildren – with the King and his wife stopping to speak to crowds and shake their hands. One of those who waited to meet Charles was 91-year-old Catherine Gillian-Adams, who said she was ‘thrilled to bits’ her home town was now a city.

Thousands gathered in Dunfermline to see the royal couple and other VIPs including First Minister Nicola Sturgeon – who was greeted by cheers and boos. But there was clapping and cries of ‘God Save the King’ when Charles, wearing a blue tartan kilt, arrived.

His Majesty and his wife attended an official council meeting at the City Chambers where the King formally marked the conferral of city status on Dunfermline and made a short speech. It is their first joint public engagements since royal mourning ended last Tuesday.

In the ceremony the King said he was ‘delighted’ when it was announced the town would become a city. He said he hoped people would feel a ‘real sense of pride in this new chapter’.

He said: ‘That would, I know, gladden my dear mother’s heart, as it certainly gladdens mine. As you celebrate your well-deserved status as Scotland’s new City, I can only offer my warmest congratulations, and my heartfelt wishes for the years to come’. 

He added: ‘I was delighted when, in May this year, it was announced that Dunfermline was one of the eight communities being granted City Status to mark The late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. There could be no more fitting way to mark my beloved mother’s extraordinary life of service than by granting this honour to a place made famous by its own long and distinguished history, and by the indispensable role it has played in the life of our country.

‘Now, of course, we gather to celebrate this great occasion but also to commemorate the life of Her late Majesty, whose deep love for Scotland was one of the foundations of her life’.

After the ceremony they visited Dunfermline Abbey to mark its 950th anniversary, and will meet with representatives from Historic Scotland to learn about the history of the local area and conservation of the site. The Abbey is the burial place of Robert The Bruce and more of Scotland’s royalty.

King Charles III greets members of the public, who cheered his arrival and said ‘God Save the King’

King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla wave at an official ceremony to mark Dunfermline as a city

Charles used his speech to declare: ‘We gather to celebrate this great occasion but also to commemorate the life of Her late Majesty, whose deep love for Scotland was one of the foundations of her life’

The letters patent confirming Dunfermline formally awarded city status

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is greeted by Lord Provost of Dunfermline Jim Leishman as she arrives at the City Chambers in Dunfermline. There were cheers and boos

School children wait for the arrival of King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla

Children are lifted on to the shoulders of their parents as they watch the festivities in Dunfermline

After the royal couple left Dunfermline city chambers, they were again shaking hands with well-wishers gathered outside as they left and went to Dunfermline Abbey, where the royal couple saw the resting place of Robert the Bruce.

Bill Henderson, 71, who was was amongst the crowds who waited to greet the King and Queen Consort, told how locals were excited the town was now becoming a city

Speaking about it, he said: ‘It’s a historic event.

‘I was born just before the Queen was came to the throne, so she’s been my monarch my whole life. It’s just exciting.

‘And especially a King Charles coming back to Dunfermline when King Charles I was born here, however long ago that was.’

Teacher Carol Williams, 52, commented: ‘It’s such an honour for Dunfermline to be his first visit as the new King.’

Eight places have won city status as part of the late monarch’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

Dunfermline’s bid for the status was based on its heritage and its historic status as an ancient seat of royal power, but also one of the fastest-growing towns in Europe.

The King and his wife will also host a reception at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh on Monday to celebrate British South Asian communities.

They will meet with between 200 and 300 guests of British Indian, Pakistani, Bangladesh, Sri Lankan, Nepalese, Bhutanese and Maldivian heritage from across the UK.

The event will recognise the contribution many from these communities have made to the National Health Service, arts, media, education, business and the Armed Forces.

Charles will also hold an investiture ceremony for a small group of local people, his first as King.

It came amid claims that King Charles III will not attend the Cop27 climate summit after being told to stay away by Liz Truss.

The monarch was reportedly planning to make a speech at the meeting of world leaders in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, in November.

But the Prime Minister, who will also not attend, objected to his plans during an audience at Buckingham Palace last month.

It comes amid growing suspicion that the Government is planning to water down or even abandon its target of ‘net zero’ carbon emissions by 2050. The Palace said advice had been sought by the King and was given by Miss Truss. ‘With mutual friendship and respect there was agreement that the King would not attend,’ the Palace said.

But the decision is likely to have disappointed the King, who as Prince of Wales had a long history of campaigning to reduce the effects of climate change. As heir to the throne he also had a reputation for interfering in government business, most recently expressing his distaste for the Government’s plan to send illegal immigrants to Rwanda.

After the death of his mother, friends insisted he will not cool on the issue of global warming.

King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla, hold their first joint public engagement since royal mourning ended

Camilla, Queen Consort arrives at Dunfermline Abbey, with a posy of flowers

Britain’s King Charles III and Britain’s Camilla, Queen Consort greet members of the public

The King and Queen Consort formally mark the conferral of city status on the former town

the King was greeted by pipes on St Catherine’s Wynd as the monarch arrived to confer city status on Dunfermline

Dunfermline Abbey ahead of the arrival on King Charles III

But as monarch he is obliged to remain politically neutral, and in his address to the nation after the Queen’s death, he acknowledged that ‘it will no longer be possible to give so much time to the… issues for which I care so deeply’.

Before his ascension to the throne last month, King Charles had indicated he would attend the 27th UN Climate Change Conference, known as Cop27, which will run from November 6 to 18.

A source told the Daily Mail there had never been any firm plans for the King to go, though he has attended previously, leading to speculation he would again this year. As all foreign visits are undertaken at the request of the British Government, advice was sought by the Palace.

The ‘unanimous’ decision, it has been suggested, is that with so many demands for the King to be deployed abroad, Cop27 would not be the ‘right occasion’ for his first overseas visit as sovereign.

Sources highlighted his address to the nation following his mother’s death, in which he stressed that he remains ‘ever mindful’ of his constitutional role in light of his change of circumstances.

As previously highlighted by the Mail, it is understood that the environment will remain central to his work as sovereign.

In 2015, he delivered the opening address at Cop21 in Paris, describing climate change as the greatest threat facing humanity.

In a hard-hitting speech the King echoed Winston Churchill by calling on ‘the few’ to take action to save the planet, urging world leaders to commit ‘trillions, not billions, of dollars’.

He also delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of Cop26 in Glasgow last year, calling on world leaders to adopt a ‘warlike footing’ to deal with climate change. Although he will not attend Cop27 in person, it is understood he is still determined to make his presence felt, leaving the door open for a virtual appearance.

Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood said in a tweet that he hoped the King would be allowed to go to Egypt, adding that he was a ‘globally respected voice’ on the environment whose attendance would add ‘serious authority’ to the British delegation.

While Boris Johnson became an enthusiastic advocate for net zero, Miss Truss is thought to be more sceptical of the green agenda.

A government source said: ‘The Palace and the Government considered separately, and then agreed jointly, that… he is not going to be attending Cop.’

Nicola Sturgeon’s mixed reception: Scotland’s First Minister is booed and cheered by crowd as she arrives in Dunfermline for city-making ceremony – while King Charles is greeted by fans waving Union flags

Nicola Sturgeon today received a mixed reception as she arrived for a historic city-making ceremony in Dunfermline.

The Scottish First Minister was loudly booed by parts of the crowd – and cheered by others – as she smiled and waved to fellow Scots outside Dunfermline City Chambers this morning.

Royal fans had gathered outside the 140-year-old council building to catch a glimpse of King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla – who are also attending the event.

Dunfermline, which is just across the Forth estuary from the Scottish capital Edinburgh, was granted city status earlier this year as part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

But the Monarch died last month, at the age of 96, before the ceremony to formally mark the honour could take place.

Today, Charles, who ascended the throne last month following the death of his mother, will be among those attending the city-making ceremony.

Nicola Sturgeon today received a frosty reception as she arrived ahead of King Charles for a historic city-making ceremony in Dunfermline. Pictured: First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is greeted by Lord Provost of Dunfermline Jim Leishman as she arrives at the City Chambers in Dunfermline, Fife

Ahead of the event, First Minister Sturgeon arrived at Dunfermline City Chambers, where she was met by Lord Provost of Dunfermline Jim Leishman.

But as she turned to wave to the largely royalist crowds, the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) leader was met with a mixed reception. Among a smattering of cheers and claps were loud boos and whistles.

The moment was captured on camera by ITV’s royal editor Chris Ship.

Posting the video on Twitter, he wrote: ‘If you needed a reminder of how decisive Scottish politics can be, Nicola Sturgeon was mostly booed (plus some cheers) by the crowd waiting for King Charles and Camilla to arrive.

‘This is a crowd waiting for a monarch to turn up but took me by surprise…’.

In sharp contrast, King Charles was later seen greeting crowds, some of whom were waving the Union flag.