King Charles III made an awkward admission in a special episode of The Repair Shop, airing tonight on BBC One.
In the one-off episode, filmed in 2021 when the royal was still Prince of Wales, he admitted it took him years to recognise the tune being played from a clock in Clarence House. In the royal edition, which marks the BBC's centenary, the King tasked Jay Blades and his experts to repair an 18th-century bracket clock and a 19th century ceramic piece made for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.
When clockmaker Steen Fletcher presented their finished work, King Charles said: “Have you sorted this? Marvellous! It’s tolling a Scottish tune", MirrorOnline reports.
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He added: “There’s one in Clarence House that plays the National Anthem. It took me years to realise!”
Speaking about his love of clocks, the royal added: “To me I just love the sound, the tick tock but also if they chime, that’s why I love grandfather clocks. I find it rather reassuring in a funny way and they become really special parts of the house, the beating heart of it. So that’s why they matter to me.
"I’m afraid it is something I learnt from my grandmother, she had great fun putting a few together and trying to get them to chime at the same time in the dining room, which made it very enjoyable because everybody had to stop talking.”
In the episode, Jay and ceramics expert, Kirsten Ramsay; horologist Steve; and furniture restorer, Will Kirk were invited to Dumfries House in Scotland to meet the King and learn about The Prince’s Foundation’s work to train the next generation of craftspeople.
The royal gives Jay a tour, meeting some of the students on The Prince’s Foundation’s Building Craft Programme – a training initiative that teaches traditional skills such as blacksmithing, stonemasonry and wood carving. He told Jay the lack of vocational education in school is a "great tragedy".
He said: "Actually not everybody is designed for the academic. I know from The Prince’s Trust, I have seen the difference we can make to people who have technical skills which we need all the time, I have the greatest admiration for people.
“I think that’s been the biggest problem, sometimes that is forgotten. Apprenticeships are vital but they just abandoned apprenticeships for some reason.
“It gives people intense satisfaction and reward.
The Repair Shop: A Royal Visit, airs on BBC One tonight at 8pm.
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