The dulcet tones of bagpipes may not be everyone's idea of a perfect awakening, but for King Charles it is part of a centuries-old morning ritual.

Every day at 09:00 a lone piper plays a selection of songs below the monarch's window for 15 minutes, wherever they are in residence.

The practice began with Queen Victoria 179 years ago, with 17 pipers to date.

The current piper to the sovereign, Pipe Major Paul Burns, played for the first time at Clarence House on Monday.

In a video released by Buckingham Palace, the military musician from the Royal Regiment of Scotland is seen in his uniform - complete with green socks to complement his tartan kilt - marching around the grounds of Clarence House as he played his distinctive tones.

He was seen with a bright blue bag - the part of the bagpipes that is squeezed to force the sound through the drones.

The piper's daily performance is split into two sessions of seven minutes, separated by a minute in between to adjust and tune the traditional Scottish instrument.

As part of the prestigious role, often considered one of the most coveted in the piping world, the piper is also the only non-royal permitted to wear Balmoral tartan.

The job is not just limited to playing of the bagpipes, with the piper often responsible for meeting and greeting people at a variety of official engagements before they are presented to the monarch.

And of course Pipe Major Burns gained worldwide attention last month when he played the lament Sleep, Dearie, Sleep to mark the moment that Queen Elizabeth II's coffin left Westminster Abbey at the end of her funeral.

The origins of the role - and the daily unconventional alarm clock - date back to the reign of Queen Victoria, who created the role in 1843.

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The Royal Family - His Majesty’s Pipe Major played for the first time in the Clarence House garden this morning, as The King woke up in residence.

The position was created by Queen Victoria in 1843, and Queen Elizabeth enjoyed the special tradition following her Accession to the Throne in 1952. https://twitter.com/RoyalFamily/stat...83244000284673



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As part of BBC 100 celebrations to mark the BBC’s centenary, this special episode of The Repair Shop sees Jay Blades and the expert team of Repair Shop craftspeople visit Dumfries House in Scotland.

Recorded between autumn 2021 and spring 2022, the episode follows the team as they are invited to meet Charles, Prince of Wales, before his accession to the throne, and 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. Once the students graduate from the course, they go on to forge careers in their chosen craft, using their much-needed talents out in the real world.

Preserving heritage craft skills and ensuring the training of a new generation is a passion both the prince and Jay share, and a skills swap ensues. Jay and the Repair Shop team of expert craftspeople (Kirsten, Steve and Will) pledge to restore two pieces that Charles has selected: an 18th-century bracket clock from the collection at The Prince's Foundation's Dumfries House headquarters, and a piece of Wemyss Ware made for Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee. The team take these precious items back to the barn to fix them.

But it’s not the only thing they take with them. They also borrow Jeremy, a graduate from the Dumfries House building craft programme, to help back at the barn with a third repair: a fire set in the shape of a soldier that visitor Nicola has brought in. The fireside soldier belonged to her late husband Ewan and stood guard on the hearth of the home he lovingly renovated by hand. Metal expert Dom joins forces with Jeremy to restore the keepsake.

Jeremy isn’t the only apprentice in the Repair Shop. Steve’s 21-year-old son Fred has been his dad’s apprentice for three years and is brought on board to help his dad restore the Dumfries House clock. Fred creates a new suspension for the clock, while Steve focuses on stripping down and rebuilding the mechanism in the hope he can restore the clock’s chime.

Meanwhile, ceramics restorer Kirsten's task is to consolidate the very fragile surface of the commemorative vase, reuniting the two broken halves and meticulously recreating the distinctive coloured design.

Then, Jay and the team are delighted to welcome the prince to the barn to be reunited with the items.