One of The Queen’s royal pipers has revealed how the monarch stepped in to support him and his family following his wife’s cancer diagnosis.
Speaking to BBC Scotland, Pipe Major Scott Methven, who served as The Queen’s piper at Balmoral Castle while she was in residence, said that she “supported me with everything that went on in my private life.”
Methven’s wife was diagnosed with stage 4 terminal cancer in 2017. He recalled that he said, “‘What do we do with my kids here, what do I do with them?’ And I was told just to go. They were staying in Balmoral Castle and getting looked after while I was away looking after my wife. And she was given only weeks to live, and she managed to last a year.”
He said that The Queen instructed the royal nannies to take care of his children and that she sent baskets of strawberries and muffins to the nurses treating his wife. His children were shuttled between Balmoral and Windsor Castle and played with Prince George while they were under the care of royal nannies.
“I came back to work, and we came down and stayed at Windsor Castle. Her Majesty gave permission for us to come and stay there, and you know, that’s memories,” Methven said. His wife passed away after a year-long battle with cancer.
“And you know that people genuinely think what you will about the Royal Family and The Queen — they pulled it out of the bag for me.”
Methven served as The Queen’s piper from 2015 to 2019. Every morning a piper will play for 15 minutes outside The Queen’s bedroom window, beginning at 9 am. Methven said he got the job after an informal interview when Her Majesty paid a visit to the 1st Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, his battalion.
In addition to performing at Balmoral, he revealed that he would perform at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle at The Queen’s request on special occasions and that the two would always have “a wee chat” when they saw each other.
