Britain's Prince Charles has played the bagpipes for the first time since he was a schoolboy.

Prince Charles

Prince Charles

The 67-year-old royal picked up the instrument and began piping away at a "come and try" workshop put on by the National Piping Centre during his visit to the Dumfries House Estate in Cumnock, East Ayrshire.

The Prince of Wales - who is known as the Duke or Rothesay in Scotland - admitted he was foolish to have given up piping during his younger years.

He said: "I tried to learn when I was at Gordonstoun but I gave up rather stupidly."

But the royal insisted he put down the instrument during his school days because he found it too tough to play.

He added: "It's quite difficult to learn."

Dumfries House has a special part in Charles' heart after he helped to save the building from being broken up in 2007 by leading a number of heritages and charities to purchase the property and its estate.

Following that, he set up a partnership between Dumfries House and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) - of which he has been a patron since 2002 - to help give youngsters employment opportunities, as well as give them more access to the arts.


Tagged in