Charles hosts Classic FM 25th anniversary live broadcast at Dumfries House
Celebrations are being held to mark a decade since the house was opened to the public after being saved for the nation by the Prince.
The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall have attended a recital celebrating 25 years of Classic FM broadcast live from the stately home he saved for the nation.
It was a double celebration as Dumfries House is celebrating ten years since the prince helped secure its future.
The radio recital, broadcast on the eve of the radio station’s 25th birthday, began with a special performance from Aled Jones, who performed a track duetting with the voice of his younger self.
He was then joined by fellow Classic FM presenter Myleene Klass on the harp for a traditional Welsh folk song.
Folksinger Josie Duncan performed two melodies while the evening included performances of Bach’s Cello Suite No 1 and Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No 1 featuring student musicians from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, of which Charles is patron.
Pianist Ji Liu played music by Chopin and Liszt while the final performance was the world premiere of Twilight Falls on Temple View by Welsh composer Paul Mealor, written about Dumfries House especially for the celebration.
Earlier, the President of Ireland joined the prince in celebrating the tenth anniversary at the property.
Michael D Higgins and the First Lady were greeted by the prince on the steps of the stately home in Cumnock, East Ayrshire on Wednesday.
On entering the venue, the president and Mrs Sabina Higgins were shown the Grand Orrery, a mechanical model of the solar system built around 1758. It does not include Neptune, Uranus or Pluto, as they had not yet been discovered.
Mrs Higgins spoke with Charles about how she and the president had seen a similar model in Florence, Italy.
During their visit, the guests heard about the significance of building on the talents of young people from under-privileged backgrounds as part of the Dumfries House project.
The prince made the invitation to the president in May, when Mr Higgins hosted the royal couple for meetings at his official residence in Dublin.
Charles, who is known as the Duke of Rothesay in Scotland, helped arrange a £45 million deal to buy the house and its collection of Chippendale furniture to secure its future.
He led a consortium of charities and the Scottish Government to make the purchase in 2007, with his own Prince’s Charities Foundation contributing £20 million.
It had previously been in private hands, becoming rundown as owners struggled with upkeep costs.
The house opened to the public in the summer of 2008 following intensive restoration work.
Each year about 24,000 people visit the 2000-acre estate, which employs about 150 staff and provides a series of amenities to the local community.
These include skills training, educational programmes, woodland walkways, a playground and an outdoor swimming pool.
