Prince in command of digger

The Duke of Rothesay proved to be a dab hand at operating a digger when he officially opened the new headquarters of a civil engineering firm.

Family-run company WM Donald began trading more than 40 years ago.

It now employs more than 130 staff and yesterday, its new head office at Marrlaine, near Stonehaven, was officially opened by the duke.

On a tour of the business, he got in the cab of a Volvo excavator with automatic GPS.

Wullie Grant, 50, from Dyce, Aberdeen, showed him the controls and was impressed with the skills on show.

He said: “He’s obviously done it before because he knew exactly what to do with the controls and he was very gentle. We were talking about the machine and how important it is for the industry. He was saying he hopes this automatic technology doesn’t completely do away with people like me, and I had to agree.”

Mr Grant, who is originally from Caithness, said they also spoke about Charles’s passion for that region, home to the Queen Mother’s former residence the Castle of Mey.

Charles unveiled a plaque and planted a tree at the site.

Willie Donald, who founded the firm in 1977, said: “We’re delighted he could come and open the office. It’s a big thing for us.

“Probably one of the reasons for the visit is we did a bit of work in Ballater when it got flooded.”

The company donated materials and labour to help clear up and reinstate the village following Storm Frank in 2015.