Self-propelling haggis and adventures with the 'little people of Gorm'! How King Charles penned heartwarming children's fantasy tale The Old Man of Lochnagar, which he read on special episode of BBC's Jackanory in 1984
- Charles wrote the book in 1969 to entertain brothers Andrew and Edward
- It was published in 1980 and was later turned into an animated film by the BBC
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Much like his late mother Queen Elizabeth, King Charles has long been known to be passionate about Scotland.
His favourite mountain, Lochnagar, looms near the Royal Family's Scottish home Balmoral, to which Her Majesty decamped every summer until her death there last year.
But the Queen did not go as far as putting pen to paper to write a children's book that featured the castle and the surrounding area.
That task was left to Charles. In The Old Man of Lochnagar, published in 1980, the Prince of Wales, as he then was, told the story of a pensioner who lives in a cave on the mountain.
In an epic adventure, the old man falls into the sea and encounters underwater haggis who revolve as they swim.
In The Old Man of Lochnagar, published in 1980, Charles told the story of a bearded recluse who lives in a cave on the mountain
The King wrote the tale in 1969 when he was the 20-year-old Prince of Wale to entertain his brothers Andrew (left) and Edward (right), who were then nine and five respectively. Here the three are seen at Sandringham in the same year
The book opens with a depiction of the old man happy to hide in his cave on Lochnagar
The tale also includes accounts of farting and a toilet that plays a tune when flushed.
Charles famously told the story to millions of children in 1984, when he appeared on popular BBC teatime story show Jackanory.
The King wrote the tale while on the Royal Yacht Britannia in 1969 - when he was the 20-year-old Prince of Wales - to entertain his brothers Andrew and Edward, who were then nine and five respectively.
It features illustrations from the late Sir Hugh Casson, the distinguished architect and artist.
The book begins: 'Not all that long ago, when children were even smaller and people had especially hairy knees, there lived an old man of Lochnagar.
'He had made his house in a cave by the Loch of Lochnagar and it was a surprisingly comfortable cave.
'The door was made of deer skin and the doorknob consisted of a stag's antler which, when pressed, prodded a tame grouse and made it cry out, "Go back, go back!"
'That way the old man succeeded in remaining totally alone for years and years and years.'
His adventure begins when he falls into the loch from a great height after attempting to climb the mountain.
He lands 'with an almighty splash, so big that everyone who was living at Balmoral in those days thought it was a huge rainstorm'.
At the bottom of the loch, he encounters Lagopus Scoticus, the ruler of the underwater world.
He wields a double-handed bagpipe from which he can blow 'gaelic bubbles' that knock people down underwater.
King Charles's imagination then takes the tale in even more bizarre directions.
Haggises, Scotland's most famous culinary export, are living, self-propelling water creatures that move around in convoys.
After being invited on a 'haggis shoot', the old man hits 'twenty in one drive' and then proceeds to eat so much that he suffers 'terribly from wind.'
His adventure begins when he falls into the loch from a great height after attempting to climb the mountain. At the bottom he encounters Lagopus Scoticus, ruler of the underwater world
Haggis, Scotland's most famous culinary export, are living, self-propelling water creatures that move around in 'convoys' (above). After being invited on a 'haggis shoot', the old man hits 'twenty in one drive' and then proceeds to eat so much that he suffers 'terribly from wind'
Lochnagar, a favourite walking spot for the King and Queen, dominates the Balmoral estate
When back on land, the old man sneezes so violently that he is propelled onto the top of Lochnagar before a golden eagle scoops him up and then drops him high above Balmoral.
He then makes it back to his cave with the help of a magical toad.
Children are also treated to delightful descriptions of the old man's hand-crafted toilet, which utilises an antique pair of bagpipes to play a tune when it is flushed.
The old man's subsequent escapades with the 'little Gorm people' sees him first shrink to their tiny size, before he meets their king.
The Gorms spend their time flying over Scottish hills and spraying them with 'purple liquid'. It is this that makes heather as 'beautiful and purple' as it is.
The final part of the book sees the old man make a trip to London.
Departing on a train from Ballater - the village near Balmoral - he gets as far as Aberdeen before a huge snow fall blocks the track.
At the station, an old lady with a hat that bore 'a distinct resemblance to a stuffed grouse' was 'positively clucking with indignation'.
The woman, whose depiction by Hugh Casson bears a resemblance to the Queen in later life, is left 'angrily prodding the station-master with her umbrella', as the old man boards a return train back to Ballater.
The book's ending reinforces Charles's love of Scotland and Lochnagar.
It reads: 'So it was that the old man failed to reach London.
'Secretly he was rather pleased, for he hated leaving his cave and his friends who lived in the hills around him.
'The stories he had heard from the picnickers were all he needed to know about London.
'He couldn't think of anywhere more special to be, than to be living at the foot of Lochnagar.
In 1984, Charles became the latest in a long line of celebrity Jackanory narrators when he read his own book out on the show.
After the show aired, five-year-old children who had been watching gave their hilarious views of their impressions of the future King, who was wearing a kilt and speaking from Balmoral.
'Look at his skirt, and that handbag hanging down' chortled five-year-old Christopher Lipka, from St Christopher's School in Hampstead, in the Daily Mail.
Another, Rhiannon Knight, said she wanted Charles to come and read her a bedtime story, but quickly decided against it, saying: 'No, he wouldn't be any good because I need someone to read to me every night.
'He couldn't do that because he's too busy with his own children and going out to dinner.'
The old man's subsequent escapades with the 'little Gorm people' sees him first shrink to their tiny size, before he meets their king
The final part of the book sees the old man make a train trip to London. Departing from Ballater - the village near Balmoral - he gets as far as Aberdeen before a huge snow fall blocks the track
The story was later turned into a ballet and an animated short film (above) that was shown on the BBC. It was narrated by Charles himself, while the old man was voiced by Robbie Coltrane
Lochnagar is near Balmoral castle, where Queen Elizabeth and her family would spend several weeks a year in the summer and autumn. It was at Balmoral that she passed away in 2022
In 2015, the Balmoral estate shared pictures of the rubbish dumped on Lochnagar
A third, Scarlet Swayne, said: 'I would much rather he read to us than some of the people they have on. He's much better looking and has a much better voice.
'And he's a Prince!'
A fourth, Fara Chanetsa, of Malorees Primary School at Bronsbury Park in north-west London, was not so sure.
He said: 'I prefer cartoons, Prince Charles is very funny but I didn't like the story much.'
The story was later turned into a ballet and an animated short film that was shown on the BBC.
