King Charles and Queen Camilla in Kirkcaldy for centenary event

Kings Charles III and Queen Camilla will attend the centenary commemorations of the town’s war memorial, art gallery and museum on Wednesday, July 2.

The visit has been months in the planning, with the Kirkcaldy branch of the Royal British legion playing a lead role to ensure the landmark anniversary is properly honoured.

The King and Queen will attend the ceremony and meet some of the people involved, and their presence is sure to draw a huge crowd to the war memorial gardens.

Full details of the itinerary were set to be announced as the Press went to print, but preparations for the royal visit are at an advanced stage.

Bill Mason, branch chairman of the British Legion, said: “We are extremely pleased to announce that the King and Queen will unveil our commemorative cairn as well as attending a service of re-dedication at Kirkcaldy War Memorial on the 100th anniversary.

" Can I thank everyone who has helped make this ‘once in a lifetime’ event a reality for the people of Kirkcaldy and in remembrance of those named on the memorial.”

The war memorial has been dressed with a waterfall of hand knitted poppies thanks to a remarkable response from the community. The Legion’s appeal for 1500 saw them inundated with almost 8000, allowing it to use more within the art gallery stairhead and balcony which overlooks the memorial.

The anniversary will also see the formal unveiling of a new cairn which pays tribute to those who gave their lives, and the people who served at home to keep the town running.

Inside it a time capsule has been buried containing items from a host of local organisations including schools, Kirkcaldy Galleries, Kirkcaldy Civic Society, Linton Lane, Kirkcaldy YMCA and the Fife Free Press.

The anniversary events get underway tomorrow (Friday) with a poignant reading aloud of all 1500 names etched on to the war memorial.

It will be carried out in three stages, starting at 10:00am on Friday when Melanie Ward MP reads the first names. The rollcall will cover surnames from A to L who died in WW1 and run until 11:30am.

On Saturday, surnames from M to Y will be read out from 10:00am until 11:00am, concluding on Sunday with almost 500 names from WW2 and later conflicts.

A number of people will recite the names, including the parents of Sergeant Sean Binnie - killed in Afghanistan and the most recent name to be added to the memorial.