20th wedding anniversary gift is music to royal ears

KING Charles and Queen Camilla had a song in their hearts when a new piece of music celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary was played as they attended church.

- By Pol Allingham

Before entering tiny Crathie Kirk, near Balmoral, Aberdeenshire, yesterday, they were given a handwritten manuscript of The Weather Of My Being, composed by Professor Paul Mealor.

Prof Mealor, who has created music for royal events including the Prince and Princess of Wales's wedding and several of Charles's birthdays, also gave the couple a volume containing all the music he composed for their 2023 coronation.

He wanted to mark Charles and Camilla's anniversary by "setting great poetry to music", which combined the King's love of music with the Queen's devotion to literature.

Prof Mealor said yesterday: "I wrote it, and then sent it to them, and then they said, 'Why not perform it now, just literally after the wedding anniversary?'