The Duke of Rothesay, accompanied by The Duke of Cambridge,
will attend the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo
Edinburgh Castle
16th August 2017
The Duke of Rothesay, accompanied by The Duke of Cambridge, Commodore-in-Chief, RN Scotland, HMNB Clyde and The Submarine Service, will attend the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo at Edinburgh Castle.
The Duke of Rothesay will be the Guest of Honour at the Tattoo which this year has the dual theme of “The Year of the Aircraft Carrier” to mark the launch of HMS PRINCE OF WALES, of which HRH The Duchess of Rothesay is Lady Sponsor, and, to mark Scotland’s Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology, “A Splash of Tartan”.
In addition to attending the Tattoo at Edinburgh Castle, Their Royal Highnesses will view a short pre-Tattoo performance on the Forecourt at the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
The first Edinburgh Tattoo took place in 1950 and there were eight items in the programme. The first overseas regiment to participate was the Band of the Royal Netherlands Grenadiers. The year was 1952, and there were also performers from Canada and France. Since then, 48 countries from across six continents have been represented at the Tattoo.
Brigadier David Allfrey, a former Commander of The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, has been producer of the Tattoo since 2011. New £16 million spectator stands and hospitality facilities were put in place at the Castle Esplanade for the summer of 2011.
The Tattoo has sold out for eighteen consecutive years and more than 14 million people have attended the Tattoo since it began. The annual audience is around 220,000. Not a single performance of the Tattoo has ever been cancelled.
The Tattoo has always been staged at Edinburgh Castle. The word ‘tattoo’ comes from the closing-time cry in the inns in the Low Countries during the 17th and 18th centuries – ‘Doe den tap toe’ (‘Turn off the taps’). The Tattoo is set up and run for charitable purposes and over the years, it has gifted some £8 million to service and civilian organisations.
At the last official independent count, visitors to the Tattoo contributed an estimated £77 million to the Scottish economy.
For further information please visit www.edintattoo.co.uk.
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