Soldiers guarding the Queen at her Scots retreat have been caught up in a row over playing their bagpipes too early in the day.
They are having to change the times of their first piping session and not play at weekends while at Balmoral. A spokesperson for the soldiers used social media to explain the move to residents of nearby Ballater, military.
He wrote: “I had instructed my piper to play wake-up 6am, lunch 12.30pm and last parade 6pm, however it has become apparent not everyone enjoys getting up at 6am to Johnny Cope.
"A number of (somewhat) polite complaints have been made to my staff – could I ask that you don’t swear at the soldiers – and so in the spirit of community, I have decided to break with military tradition and will now do the following. I will move morning pipe call to 7am weekdays and there will be no pipe calls at weekends.”
But many fans piped up in support.
David Cobban wrote: “I would be happy to wake to the sound of the pipes every morning.”
Pam Jarvis added: “Keep by the Regiment rules – the vast majority of Ballater are proud of it.”
Irene Cromack wrote: “I lived next to the Barracks and always loved the pipers. Please don’t change for a few moaners.”
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