King Charles: Scotland was a 'haven and a home' for the Queen

King Charles III, Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament Alison Johnstone and Camilla, Queen Consort. Picture: Andrew Milligan - WPA Pool/Getty Images

Scotland was a “haven and a home” for the Queen, King Charles has said, as he addressed a special session of the Scottish Parliament to pay tribute to her memory.

The King said he and his mother felt “the greatest admiration for the Scottish people, for their magnificent achievements and their indomitable spirit” and it was a comfort to know the “true affection” in which she was held.

In a speech that also quoted Robert Burns, he pledged to take up his new duties “with resolve to seek always the welfare of our country and its people”.

Earlier, Nicola Sturgeon led heartfelt tributes in Holyrood to “the anchor of our nation”.

The First Minister sparked laughter from the new King when she recalled how her husband, SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, saved one of the Queen’s corgis from being electrocuted at Balmoral.

She told the chamber: “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 – my husband suddenly leapt up and darted across the floor.

"Peter had spotted the cause of the flickering light. One of the Queen’s young corgis, a beautiful pup called Sandy, was eating through a lamp switch.

"Thankfully, tragedy was averted and Sandy emerged unscathed – though not before a ticking off from his mistress.”

Elsewhere, Ms Sturgeon said she cherished the memory of a train journey from Edinburgh to Tweedbank with the Queen and Prince Philip to mark the opening of the Borders Railway in 2015.

"It was one of the great privileges of my life,” the First Minister said.

She recalled first seeing the Queen when she was nine years old. The monarch had visited Irvine, the First Minister's hometown, to open the Magnum Leisure Centre in 1979.