Forecast is… reign, reign and more reign - over to Prince Charles for the weather

THE Prince of Wales will reign over us someday – but yesterday all he could do was tell us that it was raining.

As heir to the throne, Prince Charles has been keen to gain an understanding of all manner of professions over which he will one day reign and so yesterday he embraced the strangulated vowels and esoteric hand gestures of the weatherman.

While on a tour of BBC Scotland, the Duke of Rothesay, as he is known while north of the Border, accepted an invitation to read a specially adapted version of the lunchtime weather forecast which paid particular heed to the climatic conditions around the royal castles.

As Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall toured the BBC headquarters in Glasgow to mark the broadcaster’s diamond anniversary of TV broadcasting in Scotland, Sally Magnusson announced: “I am delighted to say we have a new member of the weather team, Your Highness.”

Charles was then invited to read a specially written weather bulletin with references to royal residences in Scotland.

He said: “It’s an unsettled picture as we head towards the end of the week. This afternoon, it’ll be cold, wet and windy across most of Scotland. There’ll be snow for the higher ground of the Highlands and Aberdeenshire – the potential for a few flurries over Balmoral as the afternoon goes on.”

He then joked: “Who the hell wrote this script?”

After reading about the poor weather, Charles finished by saying “Thank God it isn’t a bank holiday”.

Camilla then read the same forecast in the studio, but appeared to lack her husband’s enthusiasm for the task.

Afterwards, BBC Scotland weatherman Stav Danaos said he may have a new rival for his job.

He said: “They did a great job and were consummate professionals. The prince even ended with his own pay-off line, which is always good.”

Following their tour of the newsroom, the royal couple took part in a voice recording exercise and watched the filming of an episode of quiz show Eggheads. The questions were stopped as Charles and Camilla met the contestants and host Jeremy Vine. He told the competitors: “We film up to five episodes a day, so you picked the right show to come on. There has never been so much excitement in the studio.”

The Pacific Quay base opened on the banks of the River Clyde in 2007 and is the hub of the Reporting Scotland news programme as well as the production base for Question Time and some Panorama investigations.

After their trip to BBC Scotland, the duke and duchess travelled to the City of Glasgow College to meet young people taking part in the Prince’s Trust Get Into Cooking Programme.

Aimed at 16 to 25-year-olds, the programme is designed to give youngsters the skills and experience needed to work in the hospitality sector.

The couple donned aprons and hats, and joined students making canapes for a royal reception. Laura Dey started on the course on Monday and only found out about the visit on her second day. She said: “It’s pretty cool to be cooking for royalty in my first week on the course.

“I was quite nervous this morning but they were really nice. I was showing Prince Charles how we make the desserts, but he didn’t want to try any of the chocolate – maybe he doesn’t have a sweet tooth.”