A pizza the action for happy Prince

IT MIGHT not have passed muster as one of his organic Duchy Originals, but as he toured the Scottish Borders, the Prince of Wales seemed happy enough to get a surprise takeaway pizza from a man in the crowd.

Charles, who uses the title the Duke of Rothesay north of the border, was speaking to wellwishers in St Boswells when Erminio Di Meo stepped up with a square cardboard box and handed it to him.

The Duke opened the lid and laughed when he saw the margarita pizza – said to be his favourite – from the nearby Hunters Stables restaurant.

Mr Di Meo, speaking through a translator, said: “I wanted to give him the pizza as he is such a big part of this country. “He was curious, he smiled and I said it’s a margarita.”

The 56-year-old chef, from Naples, who has lived in the Borders for two years, wrote on the box: “Welcome to St Boswells Your Highness, Bon Appetito.”

Charles was also given more traditional Scottish fare as he toured the region. “You haven’t lived until you have had haggis,” he told a customer at Lindsay Grieve Butchers in Hawick, as the owner handed him one.

Mr Grieve, who has run the business for 33 years, said meeting Charles had been a “privilege”. “He was very down to earth and interested in what we are doing. Now he’s got a haggis to take away with him,” he said.

Charles went on to St Boswells, where he read to children from a book in a library van. He then sampled charcuterie, cider and cheese made by businesses across the region.

The trip ended at the Tweed Forum, where he met members of the Royal Scottish Agricultural Benevolent Institution.