The Queen has met soldiers from the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards on a visit to the regiment's new barracks in Fife.

The monarch, who is Colonel-in-Chief of the unit, travelled by helicopter from Balmoral, Aberdeenshire, to the former RAF base at Leuchars station.

The Herald:

She was met on arrival by Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Cattermole and the regiment's pipes and drums.

The Queen toured a hangar speaking to soldiers about the work of the unit, which was deployed for the third and last time to Afghanistan in 2014 and relocated from Germany earlier this year.

The Herald:

The monarch, wearing a pastel pink jacket and hat, also inspected the regimental drum horse Talavera before meeting the families of soldiers and attending a private lunch with officers.

The Herald:

Lieutenant Colonel Cattermole said: "It was an honour to be visited by our Colonel-in-Chief in our new home, Leuchars station.

"Her Majesty took great interest in the work the regiment is doing both here in the UK, supporting UK resilience, and overseas on numerous training missions."

The Herald:

The Army took control of the site in April and soldiers have gradually been moving there from their base in Fallingbostel.

The new base will be fully manned by next summer when the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards return from operational training in Canada.

The Herald:

It is the first time the regiment has been based in Scotland for more than 40 years.

Military personnel and their families based there will number about 1,800, with soldiers also coming from the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) and the Royal Military Police.

The Herald:

Lieutenant Colonel Cattermole added: "Change is never easy but the one thing that has remained constant is the support given to us by the local community in Fife.

"The regiment now looks forward to contributing to community life in Scotland while continuing to support operations around the globe in our new light reconnaissance role."

Later, the Queen unveiled a plaque on a new stone cairn to officially name the eastern side of the camp Waterloo Lines in front of gathered soldiers, their families and pupils of Leuchars Primary School.

She was presented with a yellow posy of flowers by Heather Leek, two, and a cushion featuring a poppy design by Caitlin O'Connor, nine, and Aidan Lang, eight, all the children of service families.

The cushion was specially embroidered by primary pupils for the occasion.

Leuchars Primary School headteacher Lucy Jess said: "All of the children in the school made a felt poppy and we chose some just at random to put onto the cushion, and the children don't know whose has gone into the cushion so they can all believe that it might be theirs.

"She (the Queen) was just commenting that we seemed quite a large primary school, so I was mentioning that obviously we've had a lot of new pupils coming to join us from Germany as the army has come to Leuchars.

"It's been really special for the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards to include us in their day, particularly to invite all of the children from the school to come down.

"There has been great excitement about it and it's been lovely for us to be a part of."

The Queen spoke to some of the gathered children before departing the barracks to the sound of three cheers.