A royal visit

We like to occasionally post photos from factory tours, but this one was different. Prince Charles—or the Duke of Rothesay as he’s called when he’s in Scotland—paid a visit to the Hawick factory of Johnstons of Elgin this week. His Royal Highness was there to unveil the Royal Warrant awarded to the 216-year-old Scottish woolen mill for supplying the British Royal Family for at least five years.

“The visit is a great honor for us all at Johnstons, and we are delighted to have been awarded The Royal Warrant,” said James Sugden OBE, the official Grantee. “We have been weaving these cloths continuously in our mills for over 200 years and they are part of our heritage. In his capacity as Chairman of the ‘Campaign for Wool,’ His Royal Highness has done a great service to the farmers of our British and Scottish wool by promoting the use of domestically grown fiber. And by wearing the tweed, he has reinvigorated an old trade, for which we are all grateful.”

After the unveiling of the Warrant, the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay toured the factory and met the men and women who work there. Later, he was introduced to five local growers of the Cheviot wool who showed off bales of new wool.