Philip attends Duke of Edinburgh awards ceremony for possibly the last time

The presentation reception for 350 Duke of Edinburgh gold award holders at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh is possibly Philip's last official royal engagement in Scotland after he announced plans to retire from public duties in the autumn.

Since he founded the Duke of Edinburgh's Awards in 1956, six million people have taken part and 2.7 million awards have been handed out.

Philip arrived to the sound of the Royal Marines Scotland band and chatted with award winners and the guest presenters who handed out the certificates in the palace gardens on Thursday.

One of the guest presenters was Corporal Andy Reid, who lost both legs and his right arm after stepping on an improvised explosive device while serving in Afghanistan in 2009 and spent just two weeks in hospital before returning home, since taking part in a 10K run and working as a motivational speaker.

He said: "It's a great honour to be here as it's possibly the last time to have the Duke of Edinburgh presenting the Duke of Edinburgh's Awards. It's quite a historic moment and it's great to be part of it.

"It's great to meet all these fantastic young people who are striving to achieve better in their lives."

Rachel Brutin, 18, from Linlithgow, West Lothian, was one those receiving a gold award and said the duke asked her if she got lots of blisters while doing the expedition part of the award.

She said: "It's lovely to meet him, he's an amazing man. It is quite poignant that this could be his last awards ceremony."