The King and Queen have enjoyed a day out at the Albert Hall but it’s not the one you’re thinking of.
King Charles and Queen Camilla headed to the Albert Hall in Ballater, close to the royal residence of Balmoral, to mark its 150th anniversary.
They also celebrated the importance of village life as they were shown a wide range of the activities that go on in the hall.
King Charles looked particularly impressed with the work of the Lego club which meets in this Albert Hall regularly.
There was also music to entertain Their Majesties as a display of traditional fiddle playing took place including the premiere of a special piece of fiddle music, written for the 150th anniversary. The new tune was composed by local musician, Dr. Paul Anderson.
A handwritten manuscript of the new piece has been framed to hang in the hall to mark its 150th anniversary and King Charles and Queen Camilla did the honours by officially unveiling it.
The hall is also celebrating its anniversary with four new flags which are on display inside its walls. These were designed by four students at Ballater School who met The King and Queen to talk about their ideas.
Queen Camilla and King Charles also met the Head Teacher of Ballater School, Valerie Stoddart, who spoke to them about the ways in which pupils and teachers make use of the hall.
The hall is run by the Victoria and Albert Halls (Ballater) Trust and their chair, Gordon Riddler, was on hand to show The King and Queen some of the groups that make the space their home.
Among them is the local Scottish Women’s Institute as well as groups practising traditional skills. These include Highland dancing and Their Majesties were given a show of some of the more intricate routines rehearsed there.
The hall has long associations with royalty and King Charles and Queen Camilla had already popped in once this summer after inspecting the new Banner of the Clan Farquharson at Victoria Hall which is next to Ballater’s Albert Hall.
The Albert Hall in Ballater was built in 1875 and was refurbished at the start of the 21st century with its official reopening carried out by Queen Elizabeth II.
In October 2022, King Charles and Queen Camilla visited the hall in the first weeks of the new reign to thank members of the local community for their support at the time of the death of Queen Elizabeth II who passed away at Balmoral on September 8th 2022.
After this latest visit, King Charles headed to London where he attended a Countdown to COP30 event at the Natural History Museum with the Prince of Wales.
Prince William is set to attend the Heads of State Summit ahead of COP30 in Brazil on behalf of King Charles.
