Presiding Officer, First Minister, Members of the Scottish Parliament, Ladies and Gentlemen, The Queen and I are so very pleased to be able to join you today in marking the 25th anniversary of the Scottish Parliament.
This Parliament opened on the first day of July 1999, on the cusp of a new millennium.
It marked a new dawn for Scotland, one filled with anticipation, optimism and hope.
Alongside the late Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, I listened in the Palace of Holyroodhouse that day with great interest as the then First Minister spoke of a new voice, of new dreams, of a new and renewed Scotland.
It was an extraordinary occasion for all manner of reasons.
Not least the fact that it came almost 300 years after the Act of Union of the Westminster and Scottish Parliaments on the 1st of May 1707.
It was a landmark in a long, rich and complex story which we have shared over many centuries.
For those present on that day 25 years ago, the new Parliament was a great and perhaps even a somewhat daunting prospect.
The hopes of the thousands that lined the streets of Edinburgh and the great responsibility that accompanied them rested upon the shoulders of each newly elected member, 13 of whom still give such dedicated service today.
From that day until this, through its work over a quarter of a century, this place has not just thrived but, in doing so, has borne witness to the enduring relationship between the Parliament, the Crown and the people of Scotland.
