Category: Factual & Arts TV
Date: 04.09.2005
Printable version
In an exclusive interview HRH The Prince of Wales talks to Sally Magnusson about his love of Caithness, in Scotland, for a special edition of Songs of Praise.
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In the programme, to be shown on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ ONE on Sunday 11 September 2005, His Royal Highness talks about a new initiative he has launched to help promote the North Highlands to the wider world through its produce, tourism and the quality of its built environment.
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He also talks about his "wonderful childhood associations" with his late Grandmother's Highland home, The Castle of Mey.
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The Prince tells Sally about the watercolour of the Castle of Mey he painted which is being used as branding for Mey Selections, a new brand of produce which is one part of the plan to boost farmers' incomes and help raise the profile of the area.
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HRH says: "Took me hours to paint and nearly drove me mad and I had to finish it off at Birkhall when I got there...
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"But yes, I just felt that if you can emphasise this business of local identity in a world which is increasingly globalised, ironically it's the identity and locality which is going to matter more I think."
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The Prince, who now spends a week at the Castle of Mey each summer, also talks about his memories of visiting his late Grandmother in her Highland home when he was a child.
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He says: "One of the things that is so special for me is the connection with my Grandmother.
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"For years, ever since I was quite small, we used to come in Britannia up the west coast and we'd always end up at Scrabster. We came here for lunch and always used to go for a potter on the beach.
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"And my Grandmother, I've never forgotten, when we were small my sister and I, she used to take us down, stand on the cliff there and we'd sing to the seals. It was absolutely riveting, we'd sing Over the Sea to Skye and it was very interesting, these heads would bob up and they'd start coming closer."
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HRH also reflects on the quieter pace of life in Caithness. "It is a gentler, calmer approach to life in a world which has become frenetic really and the aim seems to be to go even faster and I often wonder how much faster can it all go?
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"I just think we need to remember we are a part of nature and not apart from it, which I think has been one of the great problems of the 20th century."
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Also in the programme, folk musicians Aly Bain and Phil Cunningham join with vocalist Fiona Squires to perform I Heard The Voice Of Jesus Say and When I Survey The Wondrous Cross in the grounds of Freswick Castle.
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The Melvich Championship Choir sing a Gaelic psalm and music also comes from Pulteneytown Church in Wick.
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The programme will be shown on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ ONE, Sunday 11 September 2005, at 5.05pm.
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