The Duke of Rothesay & The Duke of Cambridge attend The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo

Last night, The Duke of Rothesay and The Duke of Cambridge attended The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo at Edinburgh Castle. The Duke of Rothesay (the title The Prince of Wales adopts when in Scotland) was this year's Guest of Honour.

The Royal Edinburgh Tattoo is an annual series of military tattoos performed by British Armed Forces, Commonwealth and international military bands held at Edinburgh Castle. The evening also includes artistic performances from across the world.

The first Edinburgh Tattoo took place in 1950. Since then, 48 countries from across six continents have been represented at the Tattoo.

The word ‘tattoo’ comes from the closing-time cry, ‘Doe den tap toe’ (‘Turn off the taps’), heard around inns in the Low Countries during the 17th & 18th centuries.

Now The Royal Edinburgh Tattoo is set up and run for charitable purposes and over the years, it has gifted some £8 million to service and civilian organisations.

More than 14 million people have attended The Royal Edinburgh Tattoo since it began. The event has sold out for 18 years in a row – and to this date, has never been cancelled.

In addition to attending the Tattoo at Edinburgh Castle, Their Royal Highnesses watched a short pre-Tattoo performance on the Forecourt at the Palace of Holyroodhouse and met several of the performers.

Find out more about Holyrood week 2017 here.