EDINBURGH: Queen Elizabeth II has reopened Scotland's devolved Parliament in a ceremony overshadowed by constitutional tensions following the British vote to leave the European Union.

The queen told lawmakers in Edinburgh's newly convened Parliament they lived in "a time of hope and optimism" that required leaders who could "stay calm and collected."

She made no direct reference Saturday to the United Kingdom-wide vote June 23 to end EU membership, a result opposed by the governing Scottish National Party and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. Scotland recorded the strongest pro-EU vote of any UK region with 62 percent backing membership.

Sturgeon, in the crowd listening to the queen, earlier appealed to British Prime Minister David Cameron to provide guarantees of permanent residency to 173,000 people from other EU nations living in Scotland.