There was a strong Stewartry representation at the Queen’s garden party last week.
Community champions from across Scotland were invited to the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh on Wednesday to thank them for their efforts.
And among them was Audrey Kelly who was one of the people behind the Community Help Kirkcudbright page that launched during the coronavirus pandemic.
She said: “It was a fabulous day. It was just a lot of normal people.
“It was an invite for the two of us and unfortunately my husband couldn’t make it so I went with my dad and he absolutely loved it.
“We saw the Royals walking past and got to chat to the archers and lots of other people, including back home from the north east of Scotland where we lived.”
The Queen stayed inside the palace itself but royals including Prince Charles, Princess Anne and Prince Edward attended, as did First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
And although Audrey and her dad Eric didn’t get to speak to any of them, that wasn’t the case for everyone from the Stewartry.
Rev Alison Burnside and her guest Carol Reeves, along with Rev Graham Crawford and his wife Dr Jane Crawford were given the chance to speak to Prince Charles by the Earl of Hopetoun.
They talked about the difficulties facing the Church of Scotland and his forthcoming visit to Pakistan, where Graham and Alison had met as Church of Scotland volunteers 37 years ago.
Later on, the Earl handed the group the Duke of Buccleuch for “safekeeping
Kirkcudbright Summer Festivities chairman John Blaikie went with Malcolm Oldfield and said: “There were lots of people from round about.
“Prince Edward’s wife Sophie stopped to talk to Malcolm so I think he was chuffed about that!”
Other members of the Stewartry contingent included Kirkcudbright Rotary Club’s Paul Tebay and former head teachers David Tyson and Jenny Smith who were representing Galloway Mountain Rescue Team.
