Former US president Barack Obama is due to visit Scotland for the first time today and attend a charity dinner in the capital.
The Democrat, who served eight years in the White House, will address business leaders and take part in a Q&A at the event organised by The Hunter Foundation, set up by entrepreneur and philanthropist Sir Tom Hunter.
Tickets for tables of 10 went on sale from about £5,000 and quickly sold out.
Profits are to be split between children's charities in Scotland and the Obama Foundation, set up by the former president and his wife Michelle.
Security is expected to be tight in Edinburgh as police step up resources around major events in the wake of the Manchester bombing.
Singer Annie Lennox, rock band Texas and comedian Kevin Bridges will provide entertainment at the event and young people will also be involved, with 13-year-old Mila Stricevic from Glasgow to read a poem on the night after winning a schools competition.
Auction prizes on the night include two walk-on parts in the next Fantastic Beasts film from the Harry Potter franchise, and the naming rights to the Gleneagles Hotel American bar.
The Hunter Foundation has previously arranged for US politicians and actors, including Bill Clinton, Leonardo DiCaprio and George Clooney, to come to Scotland.
Announcing the visit in April, Sir Tom said: "From the south side of Chicago to the White House has been an epic, historic journey and it will be a true honour to hear that story from the man who made that journey.
''We are both truly proud and delighted to be hosting the 44th president of the United States in Scotland at this event.''
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel