Coronavirus: Annual Braemar Gathering attended by The Queen cancelled

The Queen and Prince Charles attended last year

The Braemar Gathering - traditionally attended annually by The Queen - has been cancelled due to coronavirus.

It was due to be held of Saturday 5 September, but organisers said they had taken the "difficult but necessary" decision to cancel on safety grounds.

Her Majesty is patron of the Highland games event, which takes place a short distance from the royals' summer residence Balmoral.

It has been run in its present form since 1832.

Queen Victoria first attended the gathering in 1848 and since then the reigning monarch and other members of the Royal Family have regularly visited.

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It draws both local people and visitors from around the world.

The games, held at The Princess Royal and Duke of Fife Memorial Park, include competitions such as tossing the caber, hammer throwing and tug of war.

Pipe bands and Highland dancers also perform at the gathering, which is organised by the Braemar Royal Highland Society.

President David Geddes said: "It's been a very difficult decision to make, and to cancel a gathering is something which I had hoped I would never have to do in my time as president.

"However the uncertainty and continued spread of the outbreak, which threatens the wellbeing of our community, visitors and volunteers has meant we have put safety at the forefront of our considerations for this years gathering.

"Being one of the last events of the highland games year we had hoped that we might still be able to run the gathering as normal and have been working towards that.

"However the recent updates on the continued spread of Covid-19, travel restrictions and instructions from the Scottish and UK governments have shown that this will not now be possible without putting folk at risk."

Tickets for this year will be honoured and valid for the 2021 Braemar Gathering on Saturday 4 September.

This year's Lonach Highland Gathering and Games, which were due to be held on 22 August, have also been cancelled.

It is the first time the games have been called off since 1945.

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