King Charles looked joyous today as he donned a hard hat and high-vis jacket to take a tour around a sawmill in Aboyne.
His Majesty previously visited James Jones and Sons Limited back in 1999 when he was the Prince of Wales.
Today he received a tour of the facilities as he thanked all of the “marvellous” employees for all the hard work they do.
The family-owned business first opened in Aboyne in 1962 and was rebuilt in 1991.
However, the Aboyne site has received its second visit from His Majesty today, following his visit 24 years ago.
King Charles returns to the sawmill after 24 years
King Charles was greeted by the Lord-Lieutenant of Aberdeenshire, Mr Alexander Manson, and chairman of James Jones & Sons Limited, Mr Tom R. Bruce.
It was safety first as His Majesty got kitted up in all of the protective gear – including a hard hat and high-vis jacket.
This is believed to be the first time he has worn a hard hat and high-vis jacket since becoming King.
He was then taken up to the log cabin where he was able to overlook the entire operation from above.
After this, His Majesty walked across the flood defence area, which was installed following a fleet of bad floods in 2015.
As he toured the operations room of the main sawmill, it was smiles all around as the King got to see what goes on behind the scenes.
The firm is the UK’s leading family-owned forest products company with operations in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand.
King Charles shared how “impressed” he was with all of the efforts made in Aboyne as he met long-standing employees, apprentices and student placements.
Unveiling a plaque commemorating his visit, which was made of walnut by employees on-site, he also signed the visitor book before being presented with an engraved wooden bowl.
It was at this point the King thanked the workers in Aboyne for “dealing with some of the Balmoral timber, occasionally.”
Workers thanked for dealing with Balmoral timber
When asking the price of the timber, chairman Tom Bruce-Jones, whose father welcomed Charles in 1999, joked it was “too expensive”.
Saying how nice it was to visit and see the sawmill in operation still, King Charles added: “whether I’ll be able to come back in another 24 years’ time is another matter, I may not be around”.
Some of the workers even reminisced on His Majesty’s last visit as Ian Mackenzie, the area harvesting manager for North Scotland recalled meeting him as Prince Charles in 1999.
Keith Anderson, who has been with the firm for over two decades and Ramsay Dickey, who joined only four years ago said they were both “thrilled” to meet the King and added how they “enjoyed his sense of humour”.
The sawmill now trades indirectly with the Balmoral Estate, including high-quality pine, but the working relationship goes back decades.
Tom Bruce-Jones said: “We were able to showcase the environmental advantages of UK-grown structural timber products to support our collective views on building future houses sustainably.”
Before the King left, he took the time to admire the “enormous area, that the firm covers all around the world”, adding that the work from each and every employee is “fantastic”.