Queen and Duke of Edinburgh become members of Order of the Thistle at Scottish service

The Princess Royal, who is also a Royal Knight of the Thistle, was listed in the official programme but did not attend as she continues her recovery from an accident involving a horse that left her with minor head injuries and concussion.

The service, which took place in the Thistle Chapel, was broadcast over loudspeakers to the congregation, although the speakers failed to pick up the Queen’s induction.

According to the order of service, the Queen stood in front of the King with Richard Scott, the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry and Chancellor of the Thistle and The Very Reverend Prof David Fergusson, the Dean of The Thistle.

The King said: “It is our pleasure that Her Majesty The Queen be installed a Lady of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle.”

The Queen was then asked to stand in a stall on the right of the King to recite the oath, pledging to defend Christianity, to maintain the honour and dignity of the Order and to “never bear treason about in my heart against our Sovereign Lord The King, but shall discover the same to him”.

The Lord Lyon King of Arms then proclaimed the style and titles of Her Majesty before the King spoke with the same words to install the Duke.

The King appointed his younger brother, the Duke of Edinburgh, to the order to mark his 60th birthday.

He appointed the Queen to the order last June, and she wore the green mantle for the first time the following month at a service of thanksgiving in Edinburgh.

The Duke holds several patronages of Scottish charitable organisations including the Edinburgh International Festival, while the Queen is patron of Maggie’s Cancer Care Centres, founded in Edinburgh in 1996, as well as several other Scotland-based charities.