King Charles to star in The Repair Shop for BBC’s centenary

King Charles is to set to star in an episode of The Repair Shop as part of celebrations for the BBC’s centenary.

The monarch will choose a piece of pottery made for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee and an 18th Century clock to be restored by the programme’s team of experts.

The episode is designed to explore his and the show’s shared passion for preserving heritage craft skills.

The show involves the public bringing heirlooms in need of repair.

During the episode, the show’s host Jay Blades and his team meet the then Prince of Wales at Dumfries House – owned by the King’s charitable foundation – in Ayrshire, Scotland.

The King will be seen giving Blades a tour of the estate, as well as meeting some of the students on a Prince’s Foundation programme teaching traditional skills like blacksmithing, stonemasonry and wood carving.

The Repair Shop team also pledge to restore the 18th century bracket clock from the collection at Dumfries House and pottery by renowned ceramics company Wemyss Ware made for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897.

Blades, who received his MBE from the King in May, said: “You’ve got someone from a council estate and someone from a royal estate that have the same interests about apprenticeships and heritage crafts and it is unbelievable to see that two people from so far apart, from different ends of the spectrum, actually have the same interests.”

BBC commissioning editor Julie Shaw said: “This is an incredibly special programme which has the magic that Repair Shop viewers have come to know and love.

“People will see the former Prince of Wales as you rarely see him – and he is as captivated by the skills of the team who work on his items as any of our Repair Shop visitors.

“The episode is a real treat and we hope that people enjoy it as much as we do.”

Satinder Kaur, collections manager for Dumfries House, said: “At The Prince’s Foundation, we are very proud to have partnered with The Repair Shop for this very special episode.”

The programme was filmed between autumn 2021 and March 2022, before Charles acceded to the throne.

The BBC is celebrating 100 years of its history.

The special episode of The Repair Shop will air on 26 October at 20:00 BST on BBC One.