A north-east church welcomed a special visitor when the Queen began her annual summer holiday at her Scottish retreat.
The Queen attended the Sunday morning service at Crathie Kirk in Deeside, accompanied by her lady-in-waiting yesterday.
Dressed in a regal red coat and a matching hat, Her Royal Majesty was not joined by other members of the Royal Family at the service.
The monarch is currently staying on the Balmoral grounds as part of her six-week holiday in one of her favourite parts of the world.
She resides in a seven-bedroom stone house on her estate, Craigowan Lodge, while Balmoral Castle is open to tourists until August.
During the weekend, Prince Charles, who is known as the Duke of Rothesay whenever he is in Scotland, enjoyed the traditional spectacle of pipe bands, tug of war and tossing the caber during the Mey Highlands Games in Caithness.
Balmoral, which was bought by Prince Albert in 1852, is believed to be the Queen’s favourite home and offers her a world removed from the glare of the spotlight.
It is a place where she can commune with nature and members of the Royal Family have worshipped at the Deeside parish since the days of the Queen’s great great grandmother Queen Victoria.
It is also traditional for the Prime Minister to spend time with the Royal Family during their stay.
Meanwhile, the royal family has wished the Duchess of Sussex a happy 38th birthday yesterday.
Social media accounts for the Queen, Clarence House and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge all posted messages to Meghan.
A Twitter account for the Queen shared a photograph of her beaming next to her husband on the pitch at the London Stadium as the pair attended a baseball game.
The message read: “Happy birthday to The Duchess of Sussex.
“The Duchess was born on this day in 1981.”
