The King is attending church near Balmoral for prayers and reflection in memory of his mother Queen Elizabeth II on the second anniversary of her death.

Charles and Queen Camilla arrived at the tiny granite Crathie Kirk, where the late Queen was a regular and devout worshipper, on Royal Deeside in the late summer sunshine for the Sunday morning service, two years on from Charles’s accession to the throne.

The King could be seen, with his window slightly open, in the back seat of the maroon state Bentley with Camilla at his side as they headed to the place of worship at 11.25am.

The vehicle made its way slowly up the short drive, past the traditional red phone box which stands on the corner.

Camilla, dressed in a green jacket with red and green tartan lapels and a green hat decorated with a feather, smiled at awaiting photographers and camera crews as she held her handbag on her lap.

The King, who had a pink flower in the lapel of his grey jacket, was seen adjusting his cuffs as he prepared for poignant service.

The King, 75, has been staying on his Aberdeenshire estate in the Highlands, where the late Queen died peacefully at the age of 96 on September 8 2022.

He faced a personally challenging second year as sovereign, marked by the difficult double health blow of his cancer diagnosis and that of his daughter-in-law the Princess of Wales.

One of a small group of wellwishers who gathered to see the monarch was Diane Brandish, a tourist visiting Scotland from Christchurch in New Zealand.

Diana and her husband saw the King waving at the crowd as he entered the church, saying “he was very gracious”.

She said catching sigh of the King was an unexpected “bonus” in her holiday, saying: “We happened to be coming by and I didn’t realise that King Charles would be here.”

She added: “Most people in New Zealand follow the royal family quite closely and are aware of the anniversary.”

Tributes were paid to the late Queen to mark the anniversary, with the monarchy’s official social media account posted a photograph on X of the late Queen smiling happily at a summer Buckingham Palace garden party in 2019.

The image of the monarch, in a pale pink hat and matching outfit, appeared alongside the words: “Remembering Queen Elizabeth II, 1926-2022.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer meanwhile hailed the “70 glorious years of her reign”.

“Today marks two years since the passing of Queen Elizabeth II,” Sir Keir said in a message posted on social media.

“The late Queen’s dedication to the UK and Commonwealth taught us that whatever challenges our country faces, the value of service always endures.

“For the 70 glorious years of her reign, she was at the heart of this nation’s life. Today we honour her memory.”

Accession Day is a deeply personal time for the King being the anniversary of the both the historic start of his reign as Charles III and the sad loss of his beloved mother.