As part of celebrations to mark 50 years of BBC Scotland Television, Prince Charles and his wife Camilla toured the Pacific Quay media centre in Glasgow on Thursday 10 May, meeting staff and on-air presenters. However the highlight of the visit was an unexpected invitation to present the weather forecast.Talking to the BBC’s in-house magazine Ariel, weather forecaster Christopher Blanchett said he and his colleagues only found out on Tuesday 8 May that the royal couple would tour the studio.
“We were told it might be wise to have some weather graphics on standby in case they wanted to have a look and we also decided to write an autocue script. We don’t normally use a script in weather – we just do it off the top of our heads,” Blanchett added. But newsreader Sally Magnusson asked the royal visitors, known in Scotland as the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay, if they would like to have a go at reading the weather before the lunchtime bulletin went on air.
Blanchett said: “Prince Charles seemed extremely happy about doing it so he just stepped in. I showed him where to stand, explained about looking down the camera and how to hold the clicker, and he was utterly charming.”
Together with fellow forecasters Gillian Smart and Stav Danaos, Blanchett inserted special references to the royal residences in Scotland. You can see the results in this video.