The Scottish Parliament was officially opened in Edinburgh yesterday, in the absence of the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, but in the presence of Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh.
Not all of the proceedings, however, may have been entirely to the royals' taste. Solo traditional singer Sheena Wellington held the packed parliament chamber spellbound as she performed A Man's a Man for A' That, the great democratic anthem of national bard Robert Burns.
In the broad Scots in which he wrote two centuries ago, it proclaims that the honest man is king of men, above marquises, dukes and lords who strut and stare.
It was never going to be an easy day for the royals. Pulled up the cobbles of the steep Royal Mile at a horse-drawn gallop, they were there to represent the British state at a decidedly Scottish occasion. They represented the ancient and aristocratic, while in front of them was a parliament determined to be modern and democratic.
They were required to watch as 1,500 schoolchildren paraded through the historic parliamentary quarter of Edinburgh's Old Town, looking less than impressed by Her Majesty's presence and far more interested in Scottish Nationalist actor Sean Connery.
The queen told MSPs they must draw on Scottish grit, determination, humour, forthrightness and the nation's strong sense of identity to shape its future.