Peter is a Pipe Major of The
Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons, Camerons) and 4th Battalion The Royal Regiment
of Scotland (4 SCOTS), and he performed at Windsor Castle at both services in
2021 and 2022.
“Her Majesty Queen
Elizabeth II was my Colonel in Chief and her husband Prince Philip, The Duke of
Edinburgh was my Royal Colonel. To have played the Pipes at both of their
funerals in Windsor Castle is a high honour as a serving soldier,” he
tweeted after the Queen’s service on Monday.
“As a young lad living
close to Balmoral Castle, I remember their presence from a young age and the
Royal Guard inspired me to join the Army.
“Playing at Her Majesty’s
funeral made me think of those early memories and I’m glad I was able to honour
them both in this way.”
Peter had given a solo
performance at the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral; as his coffin was lowered into
the vault last April, Peter played Flowers of the Forest, as the heartbroken
monarch looked on.
Peter also paid tribute
to the “fantastic solo” performed by Pipe Major Paul Burns of
the Royal Regiment of Scotland.
He played the traditional
lament, Sleep Dearie, Sleep, a fitting tribute to the late monarch that
the sound that had once woken her daily now played her to eternal rest.
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Pipe Major Burns plays the lament at the Queen’s funeral
Every morning at 9am, her
piper would play for 15 minutes underneath her window at her residence –
whether she was at Buckingham palace, Windsor Castle, Holyroodhouse or
Balmoral.
The Queen and Philip have now
been reunited following her private burial service in St George’s Chapel at
Windsor Castle.
