Robert honoured to be sovereign's piper

Lance Corporal Fleming along with 11 other pipers - all instructors or students at the Army School of Bagpipe Music and Highland Drumming which is celebrating its centenary year - played at the state banquet during the visit of the President of the Republic of South Africa, Mr Jacob Zuma, to Buckingham Palace on Wednesday, March 3.

It is the first time that the piping and drumming school has been given the honour to be the Sovereign's Pipers at a state banquet.

The pipers had been rehearsing at their headquarters based at Redford Infantry Barracks in Edinburgh where they marched in and around the headquarters to try and recreate the Buckingham Palace setting prior to playing at the banquet.

Lance Corporal Fleming said: "It was a great honour for me personally, and the piping and drumming school in its centenary year.

“It is the first time the school has been given the honour to play at a state banquet in front of Her Majesty and we rehearsed at the headquarters to make sure that we got it right on the night, and I am confident that we did.

"The piping school’s 12 pipers were drawn from different regiments in the British Army giving a wonderful colourful spectacle with all the different uniforms when we played at the banquet."

When he is not attached to the piping and drumming school, Lance Corporal Fleming serves with the Irish Guards who have their headquarters at Victoria Barracks, Windsor.

Since joining up in 2000, he has served in Oman, Kenya, Belize, Canada, Iraq, Switzerland, Germany. Australia, USA, and Egypt.

Single man, Robert, is a former pupil of Ballyclare Secondary School.