ALEX Salmond’s niece has reflected on her family’s pride in her uncle ahead of a memorial service for him in Edinburgh this weekend.
The ceremony is to be livestreamed from St Giles’ Cathedral at 11am and will be attended by friends, family and former colleagues.
Salmond died of a heart attack, aged 69, on October 12 while attending an international conference in North Macedonia.
Speaking to the BBC, Salmond's niece Christina Hendry said: “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.
“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.”
A private funeral for Salmond took place in Strichen Parish Church on October 29.
Hendry also travelled to the Scottish Parliament following Salmond’s death to view the book of condolence and the many tributes which had been left for him by the public.
A number of performers will be at the memorial, including Dougie MacLean and The Proclaimers.
She added: “Uncle Alex always spoke about his love for Scotland and I think that’s what we’re going with.
“We knew how much uncle Alex loved Scotland, loved Scottish culture, loved the Scottish arts.
“We want it to be about Scotland and about uncle Alex and how much he valued Scotland and saw Scotland’s potential for the future for independence.”
Tributes are to be delivered by Kenny MacAskill while SNP MSP Fergus Ewing is to read from The Wild Geese by Violet Jacob.
A statement previously released by Salmond’s family said: “The family are overwhelmed by the level of public interest in attending Alex’s memorial service.
“Sadly, we cannot accommodate everyone who would like to attend but are pleased to say that the event will be live-streamed from St Giles’ Cathedral.”
