Her influence extends to her husband...

The following was published in Scotland on Sunday on 3 October 2004. Karen Matheson was interviewed by Jonathon Trew.

The Princes and the Show Girl
The Queen's consort may be deaf to Karen Matheson's divine voice but his son shares her passion for Gaelic.

Gaelic singer Karen Matheson has some high profile fans. Sir Sean Connery famously described her voice as being "touched by the hand of God" and, after a solo performane at the Lisbon Expo a few years back, Prince Charles was sufficiently clued-up and interested to ask her if she was still singing with Capercaillie.

Unfortunately, a later meeting with another royal was less gratifying. Matheson was in Edinburgh to give out a Duke of Edinburgh award. After the ceremony she met Prince Philip at a line-up. When he asked Matheson what she did, an assistant told him that she was the singer with the band Capercaillie.

"So what do you do then?" pressed Prince Philip. "I'm the singer in the band," explained Matheson, patiently. Regrettably unable to get his head around such a complicated concept, he then barked, "So, do you bang on something or what?"

"Obvioulsy, if you are a traditional musician then you must bang on something, a piece of goatskin or half dead animal," laughs Matheson. "He was so patronising; it was hilarious."