Mourners gather for Alex Salmond memorial service

A memorial service is being held later for the former First Minister Alex Salmond, who died suddenly last month.

Family, friends and supporters are gathering at Edinburgh’s St Giles’ Cathedral, with the service being streamed live from 11:00.

Salmond, 69, died of a heart attack while attending a conference in North Macedonia on 12 October.

The service will include tributes from political allies and opponents as well as musical performances by Dougie MacLean and The Proclaimers.

Salmond was buried after a private funeral service on 29 October in the village of Strichen in Aberdeenshire, where he had lived for many years with his wife, Moira.

His family said the memorial service would allow people to say goodbye and reflect on his life.

The memorial event is invitation only, with about 400 people attending.

First Minister John Swinney is attending, alongside representatives from the main political parties in Scotland and the UK government.

The service is being led by the Rev Dr George Whyte, the former Principal Clerk of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

There will be a Bible reading by Sir David Davis, the Conservative MP who was a close friend of Salmond’s.

Dougie MacLean will sing his song Caledonia. Salmond’s niece Christine Hendry and his close friends and political allies Duncan Hamilton KC and Kenny MacAskill will share their memories.

Salmond was Scotland’s first minister from 2007 to 2014. He stepped down after the Yes campaign lost the Scottish independence referendum.

He resigned from the SNP amid allegations of sexual misconduct. Those later formed the basis of a criminal trial at the end of which he was acquitted of all charges.

Salmond went on to set up the alternative independence-supporting party, Alba. He also hosted a talk show on the Russian-owned television channel RT.

His niece spoke out on Friday about her family’s pride in her uncle and said they are still trying to process his sudden death.

Christina Hendry said his family were “doing OK” and “doing what uncle Alex would tell us to do and just keeping going”.

She said there had been a lot to plan between bringing his body home and arranging both the funeral and the memorial service.

“I’m not sure there’s really been time to fully process things and fully grieve but as a family we’re sticking together, keeping close and keeping going,” she said.

“I think for anybody and for any family losing a loved one is really, really hard. It’s been especially difficult because of where he died but also how high-profile he was and I think that’s come with challenges.

“There’s no escape. It’s also in the media a lot and I’m not sure that’s allowed time to actually process things ourselves as a family,” she added.

You can watch the Memorial Service live from St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh on the BBC News website and BBC iPlayer from 10:30 on Saturday 30 November.