The Duke of Rothesay has met with the serving and kitchen staff of a restaurant he helped to establish on a visit to Ballater today.
The Rothesay Rooms, which was founded by Prince Charles in 2015 to encourage tourism and employment in the town after devastating floods, is still run by his charitable foundation.
He was given a tour around the restaurant and tearoom, located in the Old Royal Station, alongside executive chef Ross Cochrane and the general group manager Caroline Cochrane.
Mr Cochrane said: “It was an honour to welcome His Royal Highness to the restaurant and to serve him.
“He is so passionate about sustainable, locally-sourced food, which is an ethos reflected by our staff’s values and the seasonal menu we create.”
He added: “We had an enjoyable chat, and he told us to keep up the good work.
“We’ve built a reputation on using the finest ingredients that Aberdeenshire and the north-east has to offer, and that approach is appreciated by the public, who come in their numbers each weekend to enjoy dining with us.”
The restaurant, which is open from Friday lunchtime to Sunday lunchtime every week, has been fully booked since it reopened in May following the Covid lockdown.
All of the venue’s profits are put back into the Prince’s Foundation to support its work delivering education and training programmes in Scotland and further afield.
Visiting local projects
On his trip to Ballater, the duke also met with the local Knitwise group, part of a project run by the charity to promote the social benefits of being in a group and encourage knitting skills.
Members of the town’s branch were among those who contributed to an impressive art installation at Dumfries House in Ayrshire, made up of 9,000 knitted squares, and the prince thanked them for their efforts.
The visit also included a meeting with Betty Simpson, who will help to run a new Tea Dance programme at the Old Royal Station to combat loneliness in the community, and Katy Fennema, a trustee of Live Music Now Scotland which is preparing to run a series of live seasonal concerts alongside the Prince’s Foundation team.
The duke also opened an eco-friendly affordable housing complex at The Old School in the village.
North-east tour
Ballater, famous for its links with Queen Victoria and proximity to Balmoral Castle, is just the latest in a series of stops around the north-east for the Prince of Wales.
On Tuesday, buses were rerouted in Peterhead as he paid a visit to the town’s Amity Fish Company and local organic farm Rora Dairy.
And later that same day, the prince travelled to Inverurie to meet local retailers, including Gibbs Menswear and Wark Farm Pies.