Outpouring of support after mother’s death was overwhelming, says Edward

“I think I can speak for my whole family when I say we will remain forever grateful for that support.”

The death of his father, Philip, his predecessor as duke, just the previous year, Edward said, made his mother’s passing “far more emotional”.

The Duke of Edinburgh, flanked by First Minister John Swinney and Edinburgh Lord Provost Robert Aldridge, said he was “really touched and comforted” by how chaplains helped the royal family “behind closed doors and away from the public gaze and the scrutiny”.

“I know it’s part of the job description, so perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised, yet it not’s necessarily what they did, it’s how they did it,” he said.

“Here were centuries of tradition, of rituals long practised, of prayer, of care and of comfort.”

Edward also congratulated Dr Paterson on his appointment as Moderator for the next 12 months – replacing the Rt Rev Sally Foster-Fulton – joking of the similarities between the life of a child of a minister, with that of a child of the royal family.

“Growing up in the family of a minister is never easy; having to come to terms with sharing one or both of your parents with the wider parish family,” he said.

“And believe me, I can empathise.”

Responding to the Duke of Edinburgh’s address, Dr Paterson asked him to urge the King, who has been diagnosed with cancer, to “take the time he needs before he gets up to full speed”.

“His health is important, and we will be praying for him and all who have got health concerns,” the Moderator added.