The First Minister believes Perth’s history made it a fitting location for a charity day attended by royalty.
Perth Racecourse hosted the Perth Royal Charities Race Day on Saturday, attended by the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay, Alex Salmond and a crowd of 15,000, with the aim of raising £200,000 for the Prince’s charities in Scotland.
At 2.10pm the duke and duchess arrived at the course from their summer holiday home in Birkhall, Royal Deeside, met by Mr Salmond and his wife Moira, the provost of Perth and Kinross John Hulbert and his wife Sara, Perth and Kinross Lord Lieutenant Brigadier Melville Jamieson, race day chairwoman Lady Sara Cornwallis, Perth Hunt chairwoman David Whitaker and racecourse general manager Sam Morshead.
The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Pipes and Drums piped the royal couple in to the racecourse.
Charles and Camilla talked to Lieutenant James Crawford of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards before entering a marquee for invited guests, where they watched the first two races of the day. The guests included Sir Brian Souter, Elaine C Smith and the Perth-born actor Andy Gray.
William Chapla (65), of Foggieloan, Aberdeenshire, talked to the prince as the couple left the winners’ enclosure.
He said: “Prince Charles asked me if I was enjoying myself and that he hoped I had a couple of winners on the horses. We came down here on a bus and it’s the first time we’ve been at Perth races it’s great.”
The First Minister said he felt Perth was the fitting location to hold such an event.
“This is a special occasion with Prince Charles and his wife here,” he said. “By bringing royalty here it is quite fitting as Charles II was crowned here in Scone and Bonnie Prince Charlie visited Perth Racecourse during the Jacobite rebellion in 1745.”
He added: “This is a fantastic event. We held a gala dinner and auction on Friday night at Perth Concert Hall where we raised £100,000 and hopefully we will better that today and raise up to £200,000.Click herefor a full photo gallery”I think it’s important to see the difference the money from the prince’s charities can make to youngsters. There were 25,000 new jobs created recently in the UK and 24,000 of them were in Scotland but one in five of our young people are still looking for a job.
“I must praise the committee behind this event and also the unprecedented amount of money that was raised at Perth Concert Hall.”
Pete Wishart, MP for Perth and North Perthshire, said the race day was “absolutely fantastic” for Perth.
He said: “It’s great to see all the accommodation and bars full. We have had a fantastic summer in Perth with some very unique events, but we have to build on that this year and make Perth a premier destination for Scotland.
“The amount of money raised shows the generosity of the people of Perth.”
Dr Hulbert said: “I thought after the 2010 celebrations that it was possible things would go a bit flat but that’s not happened at all. We had a big race day last year and now this one, so we want it to continue.”