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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Naomi Clarke

King to star in special Repair Shop episode to celebrate BBC’s centenary

King Charles III will appear in an episode of BBC One’s The Repair Shop programme to celebrate 100 years of the broadcasting service.

The show provides a “heartwarming antidote to throwaway culture” by encouraging members of the public to bring family heirlooms in need of repairs.

In this special episode set in Ayrshire in Scotland, the King meets the show’s host Jay Blades – who was recently given an MBE by the King – for a tour of Dumfries House. The episode was filmed in the autumn of last year, when the King was then the Prince of Wales.

Dumfries is owned by the King’s foundation, which runs a programme teaching traditional skills such as wood carving.

During the episode, the King will give Blades a tour of the grounds before meeting some students taking part in the programme. The Repair Shop team also attempts to fix a clock and some royal pottery made for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897.

"You’ve got someone from a council estate and someone from a royal estate that have the same interests about apprenticeships and heritage crafts and it is unbelievable to see that two people from so far apart, from different ends of the spectrum, actually have the same interests,” said Blades.

"People will see the former Prince of Wales as you rarely see him - and he is as captivated by the skills of the team who work on his items as any of our Repair Shop visitors,” said BBC commissioning editor Julie Shaw.

"The episode is a real treat and we hope that people enjoy it as much as we do."

This isn’t the first time a special guest has appeared on the show. Earlier this year, Dame Judi Dench starred in the programme and admitted it was “more than she could possibly hope for” when her late husband’s pocketwatch was fixed.

You can watch the celebratory episode of The Repair Shop on BBC One on 26 October at 8pm.

It was recently announced that King Charles’s coronation will take place on 6 May.

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