While in Canada for their first public date night together in sometime, Meghan Markle gave royal fans a fascinating look into one of Prince Harry’s less known interests — one that happens to be a longstanding royal musical tradition.
On Saturday evening at the 40th Anniversary Gala for the David Foster Foundation in Victoria, B.C., Meghan and Harry arrived past a ceremonial procession of traditional Scottish bagpipers adorned in tartan and feather bonnets. “My husband loves bagpipes,” Meghan Markle quipped in a video from the event that made its way to social media, as the couple shook hands with the musicians.
A playful Harry inquired before correcting, “Pipes and drums, just to be clear.” – The Royal History of bagpipes Although it was a sweet and funny interaction, Prince Harry’s interest in the bagpipes dates back much further than the modern day royal family, to a much deeper, and often melancholy place within the Royal Family’s history.
The love story of Queen Victoria and Bagpipes For Queen Victoria, a deep adoration for the bagpipe began during a trip to Scotland when the sovereign first heard the bagpipe played in 1843, leading to the creation of a Royal appointment for Pipers to the Sovereign.
For the longest portion of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, and continuing today under King Charles III, there has been a Daily Pipers’ appointment; where a single bagpiper plays for the sovereign at 9am everyday in whatever castle the Monarch currently resides in from Balmoral and Windsors Castle to the iconic Buckingham Palace.
A bittersweet emotional connection Beyond just a love for the bagpipe, Harry has written about the emotionally-provoking ties between himself, his late grandmother Queen Elizabeth and bagpipes.
In a recently published 2023 memoirs ‘Spare,’ Harry revealed: “The oldest instrument there is, bagpipe will enhance that already in the heart,” Harry explained about the Queen’s love for the instrument “whether it is joy or sadness, it is as if the pipes will take anything that is going on in one’s soul, blow it up, amplify it to 11, and send it out into the heavens for the gods’ entertainment…
Bagpipes are built to give emotion form and shape… When the bagpipes start playing they tell the listener you are not alone.” Famously the final piece of music played during the Queen Elizabeth II’s Sept. 2022 state funeral, bagpipes played a moving dirge titled “Sleep, Dearie, Sleep” by Pipe Major Paul Burns as her coffin was lowered into the Royal Vault at St.
George’s Chapel, Windsor. Meghan’s elegant red carpet style At the David Foster Foundation’s black-tie soiree, held at the Victoria Conference Centre, Meghan wore an asymmetrical naval dress by Canadian designer Greta Constantine, featuring the one-shoulder style favored by various members of the Royal Family. Meghan, also honored in carrying with a spark on behalf of his mother Diana, wore her sapphire and diamond cluster earrings for the date.
For his part, Harry looked suave in a sharp black tuxedo with an elegant black tie.
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The occasion served as both an opportunity for The Duke and Duchess to express their support for the Canadian Foundation-which provides support for Canadian children and their families facing life-threatening transplants-as well as connect with close friends The 40th Anniversary Gala the David Foster Foundation