As the country gears up to celebrate the Queen’s 63rd year and 217th day on the throne next week, one north-east man is reflecting on the part he played in what will be the longest-ever reign of a British monarch.
Jack Sinclair was in his early 20s when he performed in front of the Royal Family for the first time – as part of his mother’s band, Mrs Sinclair’s Radio Dance Band – at Balmoral.
Among those in attendance was the then Princess Elizabeth, who went on to be crowned Queen in 1953.
The gathering marked the start of a long relationship with the royals, and by his retirement in 2001 the accordionist had played almost 300 times at the castle and at the Queen Mother’s residence, Birkhall.
A highlight of the musicians’ year was the annual Gillie’s Ball, held at Balmoral every autumn.
Mr Sinclair still has the diaries he and his mother kept from the time, recording their various appearances.
Looking back on his musical career, he regards those years as “the best of his life”.
And he still can recall the moment his mother told him they had been booked to perform at the castle.
He said “At that time, every band wanted to get on the BBC, so when my mother called me with the news I assumed that’s what had happened.
“She said it was someone ‘more important’ – I said ‘who is more important than the BBC?’”
The father-of-two eventually took over as band leader and by the end of his career, he had played in front of four generations of the Windsors.
He vividly remembers performing traditional Scottish music for a 10-year-old Duke of Rothesay and his sister, the Prin-cess Royal at “granny’s parties”, where the children learned ceilidh steps on the request of the Queen Mother.
The band also played at the Duke’s post-wedding celebrations after his marriage to the young Lady Diana in 1981.
In 2001, the former accountant was made a Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO) in recognition of the musical entertainment he had provided for the family.
