The Moderator of the General Assembly at the time of King Charles’s Coronation, the Very Rev Dr Iain Greenshields, has been honoured with the King’s Medal for the part he played in the event.

Dr Greenshields said that the medal, which he received in May, was a “lovely memento of what was an exceptional and historic occasion for the Church.”

“I was very surprised to receive it,” he added. “It was just something you do on the part of the Church rather than for any recognition.”

As Moderator of the General Assembly for 2022-23, Dr Greenshields played a role in both the Scottish memorial service and Westminster Abbey funeral of the late Queen in September 2022, and then the Coronation of King Charles on May 6 2023.

At the Coronation, he presented the King with a specially made Bible as his first gift on which to take the oath, a tradition which has been part of every coronation since 1689.

“You knew that offering him the Bible, which was his choice, meant something to him,” said Dr Greenshields.

“That was something that meant a great deal to me.

“It’s only afterward that you step back and think ‘I just presented the Bible to the King and he took the oath on that Bible’.

“It wasn’t just a presentation, it was an encouragement to the King, saying these are the lively oracles of God and to advise him that there was wisdom to be found in it.”