Queen was in good spirits at weekend, church moderator says

The Queen seemed frail but in "really good spirits" when he met her at the weekend, the moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland has said.

The Rt Rev Dr Iain Greenshields spent the weekend at Balmoral, where he had dinner with the Queen on Saturday and lunch with her on Sunday.

He described the monarch as "absolutely on the ball" and great company.

The moderator said the Queen spoke fondly of her family and Balmoral.

The Queen was the head of the Church of England, but when in Scotland she worshipped in the Church of Scotland and traditionally held audiences with the moderator.

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Dr Greenshields is the current incumbent of the role, which sees him acting as an ambassador for the Church of Scotland for a year.

He told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme that the Queen was "obviously frail" but "absolutely on the ball" when he saw her last weekend.

He said: "She was talking about her past, her love for Balmoral, her father, her mother, Prince Philip, horses, very much very engaged with what was happening in the church and what was happening in the nation too.

"This frail lady came in but there was still that sense of who she was and that real sense of making you feel immediately at ease, engaging with you immediately in conversation, a nice bright smile, everything you would expect of your monarch.

The Queen pictured at Balmoral on Tuesday

"Her health was frail, we knew that, but when I left her on Sunday she was very positive and I just find it very hard to believe that in those few days things have changed so much."

Dr Greenshields said Balmoral was one of the Queen's favourite places and she was said to never be happier than when staying there.

He added: "In conversation with her she took me over to the window and she was looking over her gardens with great pride and affection and I think that that's where she would have wanted to spend her last days.

"I would think the family are comforted by that."

The Scottish parliament has suspended its business and a book of condolences has been opened by presiding officer Alison Johnstone for MSPs and Holyrood staff to sign.

'Like a very posh granny'

Former presiding officer Ken Macintosh told Good Morning Scotland that he had a number of audiences with The Queen.

He said her private side was "quite different" from her public persona.

"She was quite a serious person in public because she took her role seriously, but in private she was charming, she was informed, she was very switched on," he said.

"The thing that struck me was how smiley she was, how warm she was, and that was the contrast to this very serious person.

"When you go into schools and do talks they always ask you, have you met the Queen? I used to say she was like a very posh granny, just a lovely person."

The Queen at the Scottish Parliament in 2016 with former presiding officer Ken Macintosh

Historian Sir Tom Devine said that "by any standards the Queen had a great affection for Scotland"

He said she was arguably the "most influential and significant" ever monarch.

He added: "One of the key aspects of her reign was the recognition, and indeed the respect for, the particular nations of the United Kingdom.

"For Scotland, it was her sheer love of this country's history and its standing as a special place."