Let Mey share a secret!
Ex-tour guide at Queen Mother’s beloved castle has some tales to tell...
A DEVOTED friend of the Queen Mother, it has been decades since he worked at her beloved estate.
But now royal tour guide Major John Perkins has returned to the Castle of Mey to share its secrets with the next generation of guides.
The 95-year-old revisited the Caithness castle as part of celebrations to mark the 20th anniversary of its opening to the public.
And he shared inside stories and fascinating insights from his 20-year career at the castle which began thanks to his friendship with the Queen Mother. He said: ‘It’s got a very, very special feel about it. Some houses, places like this, have not got that feel.
‘The Castle of Mey, when you walk in, it says, ‘‘Welcome, how nice to see you’’, and you feel as if you are indeed welcome.’
Major Perkins first arrived at the castle in 1977 – and has now travelled from his home near Shrewsbury, Shropshire, to be there again.
He served as a guide at the estate for two decades, sharing his unparalleled knowledge with countless visitors over the years. The once-dilapidated Castle of Mey was bought by the late Queen Mother in 1952, after the death of King George VI.
Following its renovation, she holidayed at the castle for almost 50 years, each August presiding over the Mey Games.
Former guide Major Perkins said that one of the secrets of showing people around the castle was not to do it from a script. ‘I’m very, very fortunate having known the place and having seen the whole castle, active and alive with Her Majesty and other guests,’ he said, before going on to share a behind-the-scenes insight into its former life.
‘The Queen Mother always had tea in the afternoon, and what a tea!’ he said.
‘She always had tea and she always used to make the tea herself. The kettle was down on the floor, and she used to boil it, pour it into the tea pot, pour the tea out, and people thought as a Queen, she wouldn’t do that. But she said, ‘‘I like doing it because this is my home, and you are my guests, and my friends’’, and so she automatically did it.
‘Which of course is typical of the lady, she was just quite extraordinary... You couldn’t have found a nicer person to work for.’
The castle, only six miles from John O’Groats, is now looked after by the Prince’s Foundation, and Prince Charles, the Duke of Rothesay, visits every year.
The castle and gardens are open from May 1 to September 30 every Wednesday to Sunday, except for a brief closure from July 25 to August 10.
‘She used to make the tea herself’