Royal Curling in Stirling

His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales paid a visit to Scotland for some pre-Olympic curling today.

He was accompanied by Princess Kate and, as she reportedly won the head-to-head with her royal husband, the editor has decided she gets the first full-size story image below.

In all honesty, the Prince threw his stone quite well. In a video posted to the Team Mouat socials and observed by The Curling News, William maintained his slide throughout his delivery, watched closely by Great Britain skip Bruce Mouat.

His release was a bit soft – since we must continue to be honest – and it took end-to-end brushing by Mouat third Grant Hardie and Olympic GBR women’s skip Rebecca Morrison to drag the rock into the top of the 12-foot rings.

That was worth another smile, to be sure.

The royals met with fans on their way in to the facility, and also spoke with the athletes headed to Cortina – including Great Britain’s Paralympic wheelchair curling team.

Today’s images are merely the first in what should be a cascade of curling scenes starring celebrities and politicians over the next few weeks.

It is a Winter Olympic year, after all. And the countdown to Cortina is on.

The curling academy was the royal couple’s first stop on their current visit to Scotland. One reported aspect of the trip is to highlight Scotland’s heritage traditions that continue to connect communities today.

As The Curling News has reported in the past, Scottish curling facilities are consistently under threat, primarily by diminished government funding which can naturally lead to facility closures.

For the curious, William’s brother Harry tried wheelchair curling nearly two years ago in Vancouver – aided by Canadian singer Michael Bublé – in the one-year lead-in to the Invictus Winter Games.