by El Rey has said that “not everyone is designed for academics” and called the lack of vocational education in schools a “great tragedy” during a special edition of The Repair Shop.
Presenter Jay Blades and crew visited Dumfries House in Scotland for a one-off episode to mark the BBC’s centenary filmed when Charles was still the Prince of Wales.
In The Repair Shop: A Royal Visit, Charles needs help with an 18th-century stand-up clock and a piece made for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee by British potter Wemyss Ware.
He said the damaged 19th-century piece of pottery fell out when someone was opening a window: “they didn’t notice,” he joked.
Speaking about their love of clocks, the royal added: “I love the sound, the tick tock, but also if it sounds, that’s why I love grandfather clocks.
“I find it quite calming in a fun way and they become really special parts of the house…the beating heart of it. That’s why I care.
“I’m afraid it’s something I learned from my grandmother, she had a lot of fun putting together a few and trying to make them sound at the same time in the dining room, which was very entertaining because everyone had to stop talking. ”
In the episode, Charles meets students from the Prince’s Foundation Construction Craft Program, a training initiative that teaches traditional skills such as blacksmithing, masonry, and woodcarving.
The monarch said: “I still think that the great tragedy is the lack of vocational education in schools, not all of them are really designed for academics.
“I know from The Prince’s Trust, I have seen the difference we can make for people who have technical skills that we need all the time, I have the greatest admiration for people.
“I think that has been the biggest problem, sometimes that is forgotten. The apprenticeships are vital, but they just dropped the apprenticeships for some reason.
“It gives people intense satisfaction and reward.”
Charles said what he “really loves” is that students come back as tutors year after year, “filling in school gaps,” he said.
Blade and pottery expert Kirsten Ramsay, watchmaker Steve Fletcher, and furniture restorer Will Kirk set out to repair the King’s clock and pottery in the episode.
Before the results are revealed, Charles asks the crew, “Have you guys fixed this? The suspense is killing me.”
The monarch also lends Prince’s Foundation graduate Jeremy Cash to The Repair Shop to work with metalwork expert Dominic Chinea on a third item described as a fire in the shape of a soldier with a moving story behind its existence.
The Repair Shop: A Royal Visit will air Wednesday at 8pm on BBC One.
