after a service in her majesty's honor, king charles iii is about to address members of the scottish parliament after receiving their condolences. earlier on this fourth day of national mourning, the new king walking behind the hearse carrying his mother's coffin draped with a scottish flag alongside his siblings. before departing for scotland in london this morning, king charles addressed members of the british parliament, promising to follow his mother's example. >> the late majesty pledged herself to serve her country and her people and to maintain the precious principles of constitutional government which lie at the heart of our nation. she set an example of selfless duty, which with god's help and

your counsels, i am resolved faithfully to follow. >> president biden and the first laid did will be traveling to london over the weekend to represent the united states at next monday's funeral services. today, the president is in boston where he will be promoting the bipartisan infrastructure law and holding a program on his cancer moon shot initiative. and we are closely following stunning advances by ukraine's government retaking a significant amount of territory from russian forces around kharkiv in the east. russia is for the first time acknowledging a major setback and is already retaliating. we begin in the united kingdom with kier simmons and daisy mcandrew. kier, take us through what we've seen from the king today, what we should expect throughout the week in this really emotional farewell for scotland, part of

the country that was so dear to the queen's heart. >> reporter: that's right, andrea. pageantry, politics, and the intensely personal through today just starts where you left off there in scotland. the queen's cortege taken through the streets of scotland's capital city, the royal mile, with her sons and daughter walking behind as they have walked behind her for decades as their monarch, as well as our monarch, and it was intensely personal. you could see it on their faces. and yet at the same time, and we have said this so many times, carrying out their duty because that is what duty requires despite however you may be feeling in public. walking and being seen. because the scottish people lined those streets, andrea, to say good-bye to a queen, but also to see their new king.

then that service and we are waiting for a vigil at the prince's where her loved ones will stand for a time and keep vigil over her coffin. people coming to say good-bye, filing in one by one. that will happen here in london, too, but scotland was a country loved by the queen and in their silence on the streets today, they said how much they love her. then those who love politics, watching. there are so many, i know of your viewers who do, those scenes here in london in the palace of westminster, steeped in royal history and politics. the westminster hull where king charles spoke and lawmakers spoke to him, that is 900 years old. built by the son of william the conquerer. that is where king george the

first was put on trial. so we are talking about places, here in london and in scotland, with a troubled and bloody history as the british democratic system was forged and fought over and that is the kind of setting that we are now seeing these events play out on and that, i suppose, takes us to the importance of the pageantry as we'll see in the days ahead because it is a peaceful way of symbolizing the balance of power and the agreements that make up the british unwritten constitution. then just that very personal aspect. we'll see much more of this. you think about those young princes, very young. william and harry. walking behind the coffin of their mother, princess diana. then you watch the queen's children walking behind her coffin. of course, they are of a completely different age.

harry and william talked about how difficult they found it for them. of course, they've had much longer to prepare for this. but still, i think it goes to the understanding that we must always remember, which is is that these are people who have lost their mum. there was one lawmaker, speaker of the house of commons. i noted it because he said everything really. he said to king charles, keep as our grief is, we know your grief is deeper. >> kier, i so appreciate your historical as well as your more recent history. your historical allusions there to both in scotland and in london. just all the moods. those of us who have followed history and shakespeare and the whole you know, bloody and also recent history. it just blends together in the

pageantry and the personal side. so, daisy, charles has had his own rocky relationship with the british people over the decades, but it seems to me in watching all of the coverage and his speech from friday on, just every note seems to have been so perfectly blending the personal and the sovereign. just all the right notes that he has struck and it seems to me that people must be responding to him very much. not just in the political spear, but in the personal sphere, as a man who has lost his mom. >> andrea, i couldn't agree more. i think if you're one of the king's advisers and you're trying to assess how the last few days have gone since we got the news of the queen's death, i think you would be very pleased of the reaction the king's got from the public. both when he's been out and about.

he's been out and about doing those meet and greets much more than i think many people would have assumed he would be doing at this stage. and the reaction has been very warm and the reaction from newspapers, from commentators, has also been very positive. of course, it's early days, but this immediate period when the country is in mourning and grief ridden because of the death of the queen, could have been a moment of deputy if the new king hadn't got it right. but i think so far as you mentioned, the speech that he made, it was a mixture of very respectful, talking about his mother, but also very personal, wearing his heart on his sleeve. that was clearly a statement of intent on how he intends to rule. he is going to be more emotional than his mother was. that's partly a generational thing. his mother brought up in the second world war was very much of the keep calm and carry on.

that's not of the new king's way. >> and daisy, also, i wanted to mention william and harry, reunion. surprise of them walking out with kate and meghan and the crowd's reaction. is that sort of, is the reaction in the uk general relief that the two have come together in honor of their granny, as harry said in his first comments today? do they think is long-lived or is that just a transitional moment for the occasion? >> reporter: you know, andrea, you and i were talking about this a couple of days ago and you were asking me whether i thought this sort of thing would happen. i said i didn't think it would, but everybody hoped it it would. that still stands. everybody is keeping everything crossed just in the way you would if it was your own family. that you want to see these boys coming back to some sort of healthy relationship that they clearly used to have. we don't know. what we know is that the king was very, very keen for there to

be an event like this where the boys and their wives seemed to put the past behind them and they have done that clearly, partly out of loyalty to their father. they don't want to be the reason his new reign perhaps gets off to some sort of rocky start, but yes, of course, all eyes will still be scrutinizing these two families to see if it is a genuine building of bridges. >> let me just say personally how much i, and all of our viewers, appreciate your unique expertise. both of you. and how valuable it is to have your presence on my program. thank you. joining me now is sir peter, former british ambassador to the united states who also served as the king's private secretary in the 1990s. sir peter, welcome. wanted to ask you also your early impressions of king charles iii. you were with him as his private secretary and many of those years when he was in waiting to

become heir to the throne. >> well, thank you, andrea. it's very good to have a chance to say a few words to you and on your program. yes, it's a long time ago that i was one of his private secretaries, but stayed in touch. we all knew this moment was going to come. he dreaded it, as he said. it's had a very long apprenticeship and he knew the moment would come when he would have to step and take on a top job. the way in which almost seamlessly prince of wales has become king charles iii. his own way of expressing himself with some emotion, some warmth. but there he is, almost already somebody else compared to the heir to the throne loved for so many years. i think the handing over of the reigns, all the ceremony going through, beautifully choreographed, carefully

prepared. it's what the monarchy, the machinery if you like, does so well. and it's bringing people together. the mere fact that she happened to die in scotland and the way in which scotland has participated in the mourning, the grieving of the queen's death may just be an element in keeping the ruling together. you never know because there's been a lot of talk recently about scottish independence again. it's a very special week. we almost have forgotten, we got a new prime minister. so here we are and the british people are both grieving and celebrating something that's a very special part. >> one of the things that struck me in prince charles, now king charles iii's comments as he became king immediately even before the ascension ceremony, was that he indicated that he was passing on his private charities to the prince of wales and to others, princess of wales. so that the things that made him so memorable as prince charles,

his devotion to the environment and such, things he was sometimes criticized for some said too political, that he's not going to do that. that he's going to be more restrained in terms of policy as was his mother. he made that very clear, i would think. >> he's been very clear with the change once he became the monarch. as prince of wales, as the heir to the throne, we saw this in 19th century with prince albert, you can do a lot of different things which you can't quite do when you have the top job. so you use that role, that affinity to bring people along, to put out new ideas, to make them think about important decisions in a way which you can't quite do in the same way once you are the monarch. i don't think one minutes he's going to abandon his passion of the environment. after all, it's only a few months ago that he was invited

to give the keynote speech in rome. i think the world in some ways has caught up with prince charles in terms of his commitment to concern about the future of the planet and now as king, that will still be part of who he is, what he believes in, but i think he will also stand back a bit from the detail of that. he will have to. he's got so many responsibilities. and clearly, he'll be looking to prince william to take on at least some of the responsibilities for those charities that he's had such care for so many years. >> and sir peter, one of the big challenges is going to be his relationship, trying the hold together the british commonwealth. we know queen elizabeth was devoted and promised her father, to be devoted to the monarchy, saving the monarchy and the commonwealth, and spent so much time visiting the commonwealth countries as many in africa certainly evolved towards

independence from colonialism. we saw the reaction in jamaica when kate and william were visiting and there's a move towards independence in the caribbean countries, and the south pacific. what about scotland? i know personally that your former prime minister, gordon brown, played a major role in pushing back during the last referendum vote. what do you think the queen's death at balmoral and this emotional outpouring along the route all through scotland to this lying in state, first in holyrood and the service at st. giles? will that help impede further movement towards referendum as we go forward? >> well, as i was saying just now, i think the accident of the queen's death in scotland and the way in which scotland and the scottish people in edinburgh

have been the first part of mourning, i do think a, it's very powerful. she was deeply attached to scotland. she loved balmoral. i imagine if the queen could have chosen where her life might end, she might have gone for balmoral. and just might be a small element in helping to ensure the united kingdom remains united. because after the brexit referendum when scottish people voted to stay and a majority of the votes cast in england were for leaving, there has been talk of another referendum. but i think also, you touched on the commonwealth. amongst the commonwealth, which is 55 different countries, there are 15 of which the queen was the head of state. king charles will be the head of state. some of those might move towards independence. the commonwealth are the other 40 countries that are

self-governed. they share democracy and rule of law. i don't think that will change. king charles is going to be the next head of the commonwealth, but there may be some countries in which the queen's been head of state that decide this is the moment to go for independence. and to be honest, it's something which the british monarchy has known was going to come for a while. there had been talk in australia and other parts of the caribbean. but who knows. i think this extraordinary outpouring of emotion and love for the queen might be again as head of state for longer than some people might expect. >> former british ambassador from the uk to the u.s. before that, to france, in turkey. with all of your postings over these many years, thank you so much. really appreciate your being here. we're keeping close watch on the events in scotland, bringing

you king charles' remarks to the parliament. but in boston, president biden on friendly ground today, pressing ahead on his infrastructure agenda and his cancer moon shot initiative and warning signs. the sixth and last reactor at europe's largest reactor plant shut down as a safety measure as shelling continues and as ukraine makes major advances pushing russia back. here in the u.s., i'm andrea mitchell on "andrea mitchell reports." only on msnbc. reports. only on msnbc. zzzquil ultra hs you sleep better and longer when you need it most. its non-habit forming and powered by the makers of nyquil. the chef's chicken sandwiches at panera, freshly prepared with clean ingredients... spark an explosion of the senses. so when you finally taste it, it just confirms... this. is. fantastic. and only at panera.

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president biden is in boston about to speak. he's going to be touting the infrastructure bill in the run up to the midterm elections and talking about the fight against cancer at the kennedy library this afternoon. part of his cancer moon shot initiative. joining me now in boston is nbc news white house correspondent, monica alba. let's first, monica, let's listen to the president. >> thank you. thank you for the introduction. and i know marty's a heavy load to carry, but he's doing a hell of a job for me. good to see you, marty. look, he's making sure projects like the one here that we're talking about or done with labor union labor. union labor.

[ cheers and applause ] got a building trades with us today. laborers, steel metal workers, operating engineers, sprinkler fitters, service workers, machinists, mechanics. this project won't get done without you and when it gets done, it will get done the best. you know, i spoke to national chamber of commerce and with the business round table. i said i'm a union guy and i made it clear why. it makes sense. the single best trained workers and trades in the world are american union workers. that's the god's truth and what people don't realize, i keep saying over and over again, senator, is you know, they have to show up and decide to be an electrician. four or five years of training like going to college. like going back the school. and get some pay during that period, but they got to do it.

and so the reason why i'm always pushing labor and unions, union labor, is because all the money, the cheapest investment you make because it's the longest duration and whatever's done is being done well. and besides, you know, everyone, my dad used to have an expression. everyone's entitled to be treated with dignity. everybody. i want to tell you, unions demand they be treated with dignity and i demand that, too, so thank you. mayor wu, thank you for the passport into the city. i don't know where you're sitting. i know i just had my picture taken with you. >> we'll continue to monitor the president in boston. first, let's talk about ukraine. because ukraine's armed forces are continuing stunning advance, working russia's military strangle hold in the east and recapturing large amounts of territory. ukraine saying its forces have recaptured a total of more than

1100 square miles from two weeks ago. in kharkiv, russian soldiers have retreated, leaving tanks and artillery behind, but overnight, russia attacked critical infrastructure, knocking out power, leaving several cities including kharkiv in total darkness. joining us now, ben rhodes and retired lieutenant general twity. general, this is an enormous victory for ukraine. is it a turning point in the war and how do we calibrate how russia's going to respond? they've acknowledged for the first time these setbacks. didn't even acknowledge them after failing to take can i have kyiv in the opening days. >> well, it absolutely is a setback. and what i will tell you is you ask if it's a turning point. we don't know yet. remember, the ukrainians have taken approximately 3,000 kilometers.

now they've got to figure out how they hold that terrain and keep the current momentum they have. they've been successful on the ground and so forth. the u.s. weapons and weapons that have been supplied by nato, they have absolutely made a difference in this campaign and that's why you're seeing what you're seeing now. the element of surprise. remember, they telegraphed that they were going in the south, which they did, but they came back and they did element of surprise. there in the east. so that was absolutely critical and put the russians on the hill. then the last thing i will tell you, andrea, we continue to see the will of the ukrainian soldiers. the will of the ukrainian politicians to fight this war. and they're all about fighting this war for the democratic principles and their homeland. whether russian soldiers, they don't know why they're there. they're low moral. and they're just not willing to

fight and you're seeing also the russians throw down their weapons and give up. so all this combined, great gains, but we're going to have to see where this takes us in the future. >> and ben, moscow acknowledging the setback. putin, you know, the attack we've seen on the utilities and refusing to give up zaporizhzhia, which is in such critical danger according to the iaea. the state department just saying they're not going to speak for ukraine about the advances, but that they are acknowledging that ukraine has accomplished quite a bit on the ground in the last couple of weeks. >> yeah, it's a truly extraordinary set of gains by ukraine and i think politically and geopolitically, one of the reasons why this matters so much is putin was trying to make a war of attrition work for himself. make some incremental gains in the donbas region in southern ukraine. consolidate that territory and send a message of inevitability

that he can hold more territory than ukrainians can take back and use that combined with cutting off ports of gas in europe to weaken nato allies, to continue to provide weapons to ukraine. putin wanted them to value their energy costs above supporting ukraine. and perhaps plant seeds of doubt in ukrainians themselves that an ongoing car that involves heavy casualties is worth fighting. that situation, that dynamic, has been completely flipped in recent days. i think president zelenskyy and his government can turn to the u.s. and europe and say look, if you continue to provide us with these weapons and accelerate the provision, we can make real gains. we can win this war, but you have to stick with us. you can't allow putin to fracture the alliance it's held together this far. it's most important on the battlefield, but it's also

hugely important politically for the dynamic president zelenskyy wants to carry forward in the months ahead. at the same time, you see a weakening of will. a collapse of moral of troops who don't know why they're there. of troops who haven't been treated well. of russian elites who stand to suffer. this could make the war of attrition work against putin instead of for him. >> by the same token, it also could make ukraine more interested in escalating their demands as they seem to be. as zelenskyy seems to be. saying they're not going negotiate with vladimir putin in charge of russia, and it could lead to russia escalating. using even worse weapons, ben. is that possible? >> yeah. i mean, i think you already see ukraine talking about retaking the crimean peninsula and they've launched some attacks there. it feels like their own ambitions are increasing.

part of it may be they want to regain as much territory as they can before any diplomatic negotiation. you don't want to negotiate from a standpoint where russia has claimed this territory in the south and additional territory in the east. but you point out the thing that i think worries me the most here, which is that russian autocrat losing the war, that tends to not end particularly well. this is an existential challenge potentially to putin and if he feels like this is moving against him, and we're not there yet. this is just one offensive. but the risk of unconventional weapons being used, the risk of him being reckless around a nuclear power plant, even more attacks on civilians as we've seen with the cut off of power and water, that goes up. and so this is part of the very difficult and anxiety ridden nature of this war that ukrainian success could invite more unconventional responses from putin himself. he's invested his entire credibility in what he's doing in ukraine and it's not working. >> and general, just briefly,

how concerned is the u.s. military about that kind of escalation to other kind of unconventional weapons? >> yeah, i have to agree with ben. you know, right now, putin's not doing well at all and so he has in his hip pockets, obviously, things such as chemical weapons, tactical nukes and so forth. we don't know his risk tolerance there. i know the u.s. military, pentagon, they'll be watching this closely, but i think the president had made it clear, we will respond in some way and it probably won't be any type of military response, but we will respond in some way if those weapons come in to play on the battlefield. >> general, thank you so much, and ben rhodes, to you, also. as always, thanks. the master file. the latest in the legal back and forth between donald trump and it had department of justice about whether the special master should review the documents

seized at mar-a-lago. and king charles iii is expected to speak to the scottish parliament. we'll bring you those comments live here on "andrea mitchell reports." you're watching msnbc. g on thei? they're investing with merrill. think miss allen is texting for backup? no she's totally in charge. of her portfolio and daniel g. she's building a greener future and he's... running a pretend restaurant. and phil? phil has questions, but none of them are about his portfolio. digital tools so impressive, your money never stops working for you with merrill, a bank of america company. bother the bugs... gotcha. ...not your family. zevo is made with essential oils which attack bugs' biological systems. it gets rid of the bugs plus is safe for use around people and pets. zevo. people-friendly. bug-deadly. [school bells] when pain says, “i'm here,”

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the fight over whether an independent court appointed master should be able to see the trove of classified documents seized from mar-a-lago or should be limited to isolating papers that might violate some form of executive privilege without the government acknowledging privilege. this morning, trump's team objecting to a partial stay of that order. a move that would allow the doj to continue to review the classified documents. joining me now is nbc news justice correspondent and senior member of robert mueller's investigation. so, ken, what is the state of play in the fight? >> the trump side has filed its response to the justice department's appeal and what they're saying is this is a document dispute that spiralled out of control and they say that the government is seeking to criminalize what a routine

dispute and they continue to refer to these allegedly classified records. they're saying the government has to prove their classified so they're kind of leaving that aside. this whole question of the highly classified markings on the documents. they're essentially saying all these records trump is entitled to and any that are not perhaps the archives is entitled to and they're saying that a special master should review all of them and the government's argument that there's a national security imperative to get to the fbi right away, they disagree. they say if it was so urgent, why didn't you worry about this in january. that i think is a fair point that the government should answer, but it's clear that the two sides see this case entirely differently. >> and your reaction to the legal merits of this argument by donald trump's people. his team. not acknowledging they're even classified and does that raise the issue of trying to force the

government to prove they are classified without somehow revealing the content, which the government of course does not want to do. >> yeah. so ken has it exactly right that the government here is saying there's a category that does not need to be reviewed by the special master and that is all the documents that are marked classified. and the trump team says what do you mean, they may be marked classified but it's not clear they are. but they don't quite come out and say trump declassified it. i think there's a reason. because there are criminal penalties if they were to lie to a court. that is actually a federal crime. so there's usually a way that this is resolved in a court, which is the judge brings the parties in and says to the trump team, are you saying you declassified these. is that a dispute and is there going to be evidence of that.

are you going to swear to that under oath? otherwise, it's really hard for the court to go down that road because on their face, they're marked classified and there's no evidence to the contrary. the other thing we're waiting for is that the parties today are supposed to notify the court as to whether they can agree on who the special master would be. leaving a side what scope is. so that's another issue that we all will learn certainly today. >> well, two things here. first of all, they still disagree about whether there should be any form of executive privilege because a special master has traditionally been able to rule on lawyer client privilege, but lawyer client privilege the government argues doesn't exist any longer with donald trump and resides with joe biden, who is not asserting it over these documents, number one. and number two, there is some in the weeds a whole argument over one of the lawyers who the trump

team has proposed to be a special master, married to a judge on the 11th circuit, which would be the appeals court in charge of any appeal on this issue, right? whether there's an inherent conflict in that? >> yeah. i mean, that is certainly an unusual choice for the trump team. the other judge is somebody i know very well and you know, i know a lot of people are suspicious of anybody proposed by donald trump, but the other judge proposed, raymond deary from the eastern district of new york, is a really terrific judge who sat on the fisa court. so it will be interesting to see what the government does here. i could see certainly barbara jones, wonderful judges. no apparent conflict. raymond deary is also, as you mentioned, has that conflict. on executive privilege, you have

it right. in the 20 or so pages that was filed by the trump team this morning, the amount of space dedicated to the former president having executive privilege would be zero. they've literally had no argument and that's because it's just such a bad argument. there are so many ways in which it doesn't apply and the government here really tried to give the judge an offer ramp to say look, before we take an appeal and have a delay and embarrassment, you know, let's just, the law is so clear on this one category, let's just resolve that. >> and ken, one other thing that happened over the weekend is on cnn, mark warner, the intelligence chair on the senate side, said they have not had any briefing on damage assessment. he said there can't be damage assessment while this master argument is going on. are they holding up the damage assessment? >> yes, that's what the justice department asserted is because

of this ruling, the entire intelligence community has halted the damage assessment because they say the fbi needs to investigate for example what happened to these documents and who saw them in order to assess damage, andrea. >> thanks to you, to andrew, and we're going back to scotland where king charles iii is now arriving at the scottish parliament. you see the queen consort, camilla, with him of course. he's going to be addressing the scottish parliament. right now is bbc special correspondent and former royal editor at itb news. katty, first you. what leadership challenges does he face? one challenge is not only winning the hearts and minds of the people, but also you know, fore stalling any moves towards

independence. particularly one would think of scottish referendum. >> i think the whatever challenges he faces on that front following 2014 referendum that failed, of course, to win independence for scotland, he will be reassured by the crowds that have turned out to pay tribute to his mother, but also to welcome him. you know, this whole, we've seen the meticulous detail with which this, these few days of pageantry have planned out. right down to the last step of the guards of honor. the scottish standard for the queen on the coffin. the flowers on the coffin. the scottish crown on the coffin. all of that meticulously planned out. but what you couldn't plan out was the reaction of the british and scottish public and we've seen the crowds standing silently as the coffin passed. we've seen them politely applauding. we've seen the tractors lined up in the rural areas to see the

coffin cortege as it passed yesterday. so i think the monarchy will be heartened by the respect which they've seen. the love and affection which they've seen. that doesn't now mean it automatically transfers from queen elizabeth to king charles, but he's started his realm, his reign, with a real outpouring of affection from subjects right around the nation. not least in scotland. >> and you can see right now his just king charles has just shaken hands previously with the scottish leader. he's wearing the kilt. so let's talk about scotland as they took that long drive through the small roads of scotland from balmoral. it was really quite remarkable, the numbers of people, but of course those who know the queen's love of scotland and her vacationing every year in balmoral and how close to her

heart that castle is. a home that's owned by the family, not by the country, unlike buckingham palace and windsor and some of the other castles. this is a very important farewell to scotland for her. >> it is. and the love that you talk about was mutual. the majority of scottish people, not all of them by any means, the majority, have enormous affection or had an enormous affection for the queen and hopefully that will, from his point of view, be transferred to king charles, but just to make this point, too. charles knows that scottish politics come with a big keep away sign as far as he's concerned. because he cannot interfere in politics anywhere. just before the referendum, the queen made an off the cuff comment going into church to say that people in scotland should think very carefully about how they voted in the referendum.

that was obviously seized upon as her interfering in the process and sending a message that you shouldn't vote for i understand independence. now scotland is desolved, housing over big areas, health and so forth, but it's not independent. and the scottish national party which controls the parliament you're just about to see, wants independence and the question of whether it will get another referendum is a very tricky one politically. so charles can't get into scottish politics at all. he can help the popularity of the monarchy in scotland, sure, but as far as anything political, it's a no-no. ♪♪ >> and as we see the march now towards the podium where he will be speaking, the queen's death is reigniting that whole debate over scottish independence, but certainly this outpouring of love for her might have some

mitigating factor on the politicians. >> yeah, i think the sense is that you know, the big question is do you detach the feelings that the scottish people have for the queen and the royal family, which are genuine and deep and authentic, from a desire of substantial percentage of the population to separate and go their own way. i think one of the points is that there is probably a percentage of the scottish population that are perhaps some intrigued by the idea of independence, but they're not die hard separatists. in order for an independence referendum to be successful in scotland, you need to win over that segment of society. you can't just rely on your independence, you know, your core independence fighters. so the question is whether all of these feelings of affection, of loyalty, the legacy of the royal family in scotland, will

sort of have an impact on kind of that swing vote, if you will, in scotland. if it does, then perhaps the dripping of an independence referendum that actually passes recedes a bit further into the future. >> and let's talk also about what we saw this weekend. the significance in your mind of william, kate, harry, meghan, all coming out together from windsor and greeting the public. at least in a show of unity and really respect for their grandmother's death. >> i think it was a show of unity, andrea. i was watching it and honestly, it felt quite awkward at times and there wasn't a huge amount of interaction between either the brothers and particularly between meghan and kate. everybody knows the things that have been said in public by meghan and harry as well about the royal family. so there's still that tension there. but it was an important moment because it was an olive branch,

certainly. we were told this was the prince of wales reaching out to harry for the couple to join them. it was definitely an olive branch. there's a huge amount of sadness in britain about the rift between them. there was sadness from the queen and their father. it was interesting that when prince charles, when king charles made his first address, he referenced william and harry and send him and meghan his best wishes. i think it was important to see them. it wasn't the most cozy of moments, but it was important to see them. >> let's listen in to the speakers as they're going to be expressing their condolences to the king. >> and to all members of the royal family. not only leading our national mourning, but grieving for a much loved mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. the thoughts of this parliament and people of scotland are with

the royal family at this time of grief. but although we meet today at this time of sadness, this moment provides us with an opportunity, too, to reflect on her majesty's remarkable life and in particular, her bond with this parliament. we are reminded of her imagine industry's commitment to and affection for this parliament every time we sit. on our establishment in 1999, her majesty gifted the chamber, the parliament the beautiful piece which sets in the well of the chamber. the wordsen described have inspired us and will continue to do so. these values were clearly reflected throughout her majesty's life. her majesty describes this parliament as being rightfully anchored in the history of scotland and spoke of the grit,

determination, humor, and forth rightness of the people. these were qualities that occupied a personal place if her own and family's affections and generations of people reciprocated that affection. while today is a day of sadness, of reflection, an expression of our sincerest empathy, it is also a day to recognize and be thankful for her majesty's long reign, her service to this country and her friendship to this parliament. for in her we indeed had a true friend and supporters with us at every step from our first opening ceremony in 1999 to the opening of each subsequent session. and on our important anniversaries too. the pandemic meant our opening ceremony last year was delayed from its usual summer date to october. and covid meant precautions were in place. but her majesty was determined

to joan us and demonstrated the importance of her relationship with the parliament and the people. we, 129 members, each invited a community representative, a local hero, to be a guest at that ceremony, a recognition of their selfless service to those in need during the pandemic. her majesty stopped and spoke with every single local hero waiting for her asking about their contribution and thanking them sincerely for their efforts. young and adult from the length and bread the of scotland, their delight and pride at receiving her majesty's time and interest was abundantly clear. a true demonstration of the team queen elizabeth invested in the relationship with this parliament and the people. in my role representing the parliament i was privileged to enjoy two private audiences following my appointment in

2021. and i very much valued her insight and her wise counsel. so while we mourn today with the royal family and with the people of scotland and others far beyond, we also give thanks as a nation and as a parliament for her majesty, queen elizabeth, queen of scots, for her extraordinary life and work. and before i invite the first minister to move the motion of condo lens, i would ask you to join me in two-minute silence. and please stand as you are able. >> still with me as there is a moment of silence.

we were hearing from allison johnstone, the parliamentary leader there. she was remarking on the queen's dedication and relationship with the parliament. tim, if you can speak to that. >> reporter: yes. well, i think what you can expect from king charles himself is to speak very similar to that he made in the house of commons in london, reaffirming his devotion to duty. he is not going to enter into anything political. as i said earlier, that is not his territory. but he will be aware that he is a popular figure in scotland. away from this, away from these images, i think he would have been heartened by the response so far since the queen's death. >> katty kay, there has been a

population transformation of her popularity in the british public as she has worked so hard with various charities and the like and a lot of public appearances. >> yeah. i mean, her rehabilitation, if you like, in british society was very, very carefully managed and very carefully worked upon by then prince charles and the rest of the royal family. and she has slotted into the role with remarkable success. she attends all of the functions. she does so flawlessly. she has not put a step wrong. it's been interesting watching her the last few days. she looks like the queen consort. >> we will speak to the motion of condo lens. >> members of parliament,

honored guests, it is my solemn duty and my honor to move this motion of condo lens on the the death of her majesty. this is a time of profound sorrow. while the nation's grief is for our queen, the royal families it is for their beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. today, on behalf of the parliament and the people of scotland, i offer my heartfelt condolences to your majesties, the princess royal, inverness and to all members of her majesty's wider family. when queen victoria died in 1901, al ford balfour led tributes then in the house of commons. he commented the grief of the country was in part because they were marking the end of a time, the beginning of which stretches

beyond any individual i am now addressing. those words are just as true for us today. most of us simply do not remember life without the queen. when aspirin assess elizabeth gave a radio broadcast from south africa on her21st birthday, she was addressing an empire that is still included in there. when she became monarch, winston churchill was prime minister. in an ever-changing and often turbulent world, her majesty has been a constant. she has been the anchor of our nation. i was 9 years old when i first saw the queen. she visited irvin, my hometown, in july 1979, to open the magnum legislature.

i was one of hundreds lining the streets with my mom. by luck, we ended up close to her car as it passed by. 9-year-old me was absolutely convinced i had caught her eye. that 9-year-old could not have managed more than 35 years later being in the front passenger seat of another car, this time with the queen at the wheel driving through the balmoral estate. in recent days, other leaders have shared stories of barbecues cooked by prince philip as the queen laid the table. these are memories i treasure too. special times in what was clearly their happy place. i did, however, experience one rather tense moment at balmoral. my husband and i were with the queen before dinner when the drawing room light started to

flicker. to my great alarm, he was after all in the presence of her majesty. hi husband suddenly lit up and darted across the room. peter had spotted the cause of the flickering light. one of the queen's young corgis, a beautiful pup named sandy, was eating through a lamp switch. sandy emerged unscathed. just like all my predecessors as first minister and prime ministers, i deeply valued the time i spent alone with the queen. her words of wisdom, counsel, and humor will stay in my heart for the rest of my life. however, the memory i cherish most is not from balmoral or from audiences, it is from 2015

when the queen opened the borders railway. i was enjoying the recollections of times spent in scotland. now, that would have been special on any day. but it was also the day the queen became our longest reigning monarch allowing me to observe closely how quietly reflective she was about that historic milestone made it so much more so. it was one of the great privileges of my life. what was obvious there and on every was the queen's genuine love of scotland. her first was here in scotland when she opened the aberdeen sailors' home in 1944. in a decade since, the queen has been intrinsic to the story of modern scla.