The Queen's former personal piper has revealed how the Royal Family stepped in to look after his children after his wife was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
And it led to his young son having a "funny wee argument" with Prince George over a toy tractor.
Pipe Major Scott Methven was Piper to the Sovereign from 2015 to 2019 and would play a selection of tunes for 15 minutes at nine o'clock sharp below the Queen's window, wherever she was staying.
In 2017, he received the devastating news that his wife Morven had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and had just weeks to live.
On hearing of the sad news while at Balmoral, Scott wondered who would look after his children Fearghas, now eight, and Lilly-Grace, now 15, while he tended to his wife.
He said an equerry told him they would talk to the Queen and that he should leave the children at the castle for them to be looked after.
He told the Telegraph : "It just so happened that the [royal] nannies were there. They all mucked in and helped out. They [the children] stayed up at Balmoral Castle while I was away."
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Remarking on how his son was able to "run about" with Prince George, he said: "Kids are kids. They would maybe have a wee argument over a toy tractor, which was quite funny.”
Meanwhile, he also revealed the Queen arranged for care packages to be sent to the staff who were looking after his wife.
He said: "One morning when I went to the hospital, the Queen had arranged for strawberries and muffins to be made up in a basket for the nurses. She said ‘make sure they get that’."
Scott also told how the Queen later allowed him and his family to stay at Windsor Castle, where his son struck up a bond with the late Prince Philip over their love of red squirrels.
He also said the Queen was very understanding of his situation, and he added she told him if he ever needed to go and look after his wife, he didn't have to ask.
Despite being given just a few weeks to live at the time of her diagnosis, Scott's wife survived a year before her death.
He told the BBC : "Her Majesty gave permission to come and stay there [Windsor Castle] and you know, that’s memories.
"You know, people genuinely think what you will about the Royal Family or the Queen, they pulled it out the bag for me."
