Queen’s piper silenced for the first time in 175 years
IT IS a tradition that dates back 175 years to her great great grandmother, Queen Victoria.
Every weekday since she came to the throne in 1952, the Queen has started her day to the sound of a lone piper playing beneath her bedroom window.
Members of the Royal Household can practically set their watches by the pipes, which start at precisely 9am and last for exactly 15 minutes.
But for the past five weeks the sound of silence has hung in the cool highland air at Balmoral, the Queen’s Scottish residence.
For the Piper to the Sovereign, Pipe Major Scott Methven of the 5 Scots Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, has sadly had to relinquish his duties unexpectedly for family reasons.
‘The Queen was very understanding and compassionate and agreed that Scott should stop his duties immediately,’ said a Balmoral source. ‘She totally understood his position and told him not to worry.’
Pipe Major Methven, who became only the 15th piper to hold the post when he was appointed in 2015, left straight away.
And while the Queen wouldn’t have had it any other way, the downside is that for the first time since 1843 (aside from four years during the Second World War), the monarch has no official bagpipe player. ‘Unfortunately because it happened so unexpectedly no replacement was available, so there has been no piping for the past five weeks,’ the source explained.
‘It’s really strange because everyone is just so used to it and for the first few days it was really weird not to hear the sound.
‘People can hear the pipes around the estate. It creates a really lovely, evocative atmosphere and sets you up for the day.
‘For the Queen, who hears the noise most days, it must seem very odd. She often has her breakfast and reads the papers while the piper is playing.
‘It is just part of her normal day and I expect she looks forward to getting a new one but she totally understood Scott’s position. He is incredibly highly regarded by the Royal Household and the Royal Family.’
The position of Piper to the Sovereign was established after Queen Victoria discovered that the Marquess of Breadalbane had his own personal piper.
Traditionally, the post is held by a serving non- commissioned officer and Pipe Major from a Scottish or Irish Regiment.
Of the 15 pipers, 11 have been in the present Queen’s reign, including Alexander MacDonald, who served from 1945 to 1966, and his successor Andrew Pitkeathly, who served until 1973.
The piper’s principal duty is to play under the Queen’s window when she is at Buckingham Palace, Windsor, Holyroodhouse or Balmoral, but he also co- ordinates Army pipers who play after state banquets and escorts the Queen to the audiences she has throughout the day.
A new piper is now hurriedly being lined up and will, it is hoped, start when the Queen returns to London after her holiday in Scotland.
Pipers are personally interviewed by the monarch to see if their personalities will match, as the two interact so regularly. It is said her piper travels with her even more than her husband.
Most remain tight-lipped about their posts but Gordon Webster, who held the title in the 1990s, once said: ‘Because the Queen doesn’t like you repeating the same tunes every day I had about 700 stored in my head.’ And Max Stewart, who has also piped for the Queen, said: ‘At Balmoral you have got to try to not repeat a tune the whole trip – which is quite an achievement.’
‘He is incredibly highly regarded’
‘Gentle, brave and loyal’
couldn’t breathe and desperately looked at me. She said “Daddy, help me...I can’t breathe”.’
Around five minutes after the second epipen, she lost consciousness. Her father kept talking to her, ‘telling her to fight and live’ as a junior doctor on board, Dr Pearson Jones who had only gained his degree the day before, and a cabin crew member gave her CPR.
The coroner yesterday described the situation facing the qualified, but not yet registered doctor, as ‘a rapidly evolving catastrophe’ and said he and the crew member were to be commended for their actions.
In another heart- wrenching moment, Natasha’s mother later wept in court as crew members told how landing took priority over getting a defibrillator to try to save Natasha’s life.
After landing, Natasha was driven to a hospital in Nice where her father was told by doctors that she had 5 per cent chance of survival having suffered brain damage from lack of oxygen, major organ failure and collapsed lungs. Yesterday the coroner found Natasha suffered a ‘catastrophic anaphylactic reaction from which she could not be saved’.
Mr Ednan-Laperouse had earlier told the inquest how he held a phone to her ear so her mother and brother, who were still in London, could say goodbye. He said: ‘The pain and agony of the call was beyond anything I have known.’ He took a lock of her hair, adding: ‘I told Natasha we loved her for ever and would never forget her.’
It is a vow that they have, of course, unfalteringly adhered to, as they both honour her memory and now also fight for the food regulations for large food business operators to be changed to prevent further tragedies.
More than 300 people attended her memorial service in December 2016, on what would have been her 16th birthday. Her family said: ‘She was also gentle, brave and loyal and showed great kindness and courage on many occasions. You could not ask for a more wonderful daughter.’
How all the more tragic and appalling, then, that if Natasha’s Pret baguette had simply been labelled as containing sesame seeds, she would most likely now be back at school after a memorable holiday.
The inquest heard Pret operates partly under Regulation 5 of the Food Information Regulations – a loophole which is supposed to free small, independent sandwich shops and cafe chains from onerous regulations.
The coroner said it ‘ allows for incomplete labelling of food products’ in premises where the ingredients are sourced externally but the pre-packed items for sale are ‘assembled’ in the kitchen.
‘It allows for a general description eg in this case artichoke and olive tapenade baguette which indicates the main flavours and items, but does not require identification of allergens in bold lettering on the packet,’ Dr Cummings said.
Instead, Pret relied on ‘signposting’ at the time – with stickers meant to be placed on the refrigerated food display units highlighting that allergy information was available on questioning staff or by referral to the Pret website.
Dr Cummings said the 13cm by 13cm stickers ‘ were difficult to see’. He accepted various regulators had assessed them as being within the law, but added: ‘I am of the view they were inadequate in terms of visibility’ and said there was evidence ‘ there were occasions when the signposting stickers were absent.’
Those who know the family best last night said the end of the inquest will just be the start of the fight to secure the change in the law which they so want to bring about. ‘They are very determined people,’ said a friend. ‘ Today is just the start for them.’
If anything good can come from the agony which Natasha Ednan-Laperouse’s family has suffered, surely just such a change would be it.