Highland-born champion piper to play outside Queen's former home in Malta to mark the Platinum Jubilee
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A Highland-born champion piper will play outside the Queen's former home in Malta as part of a global celebration to mark the Platinum Jubilee.
Gill Cairns, who still has close links with the Highland capital, will be among hundreds of pipers in more than 25 countries who will play a specially-composed tune this evening to mark the Queen's 70-year reign.
The 53-year-old will play outside in Villa Guardamangia in Pietà where the then Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip lived between 1949 and 1951 while the prince was stationed in Malta as a naval officer.
"The Queen has described her time in Malta as one of the best times in her life as she could live normally," Mrs Cairns said.
"When the tune for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee was announced, I immediately thought that playing at Villa Guardamangia was a fitting tribute.
"It’s an honour to mark this unique milestone in history at a place where the Queen was happy to call home.
"It's the only place outside the UK that has this unique honour."
She will play a tune called Diu Regnare, which means Long to Reign, written for the Platinum Jubilee by Stuart Liddell, a top soloist and the Pipe Major of the Inverary and District Pipe Band who are the current world champions.
She will play at 9.35pm and be among 1700 pipers and drummers around the world who will be playing.
Many will play at beacons which will be lit to mark the occasion.
Mrs Cairns – previously Gill Fraser – was raised in Raigmore and attended Raigmore Primary School and Millburn Academy.
She started learning to play the pipes as an 11-year-old with Alastair MacAffer and played with Inverness Schools Pipe band and Inverness and District Pipe band in the 1980s.
She stopped playing as a teenager but started again about 25 years later.
She worked at Eden Court Theatre for several years as shop manager before leaving Inverness in the late 80s but her parents and other family still live in the area.
"I have spent a number of years travelling the world, most recently living in Singapore, Madrid and for the past two years, Malta," Mrs Cairns said.
"In April 2020, I took part in a piping tribute for the NHS from my home in Madrid."
She started competing as a soloist in 2015 and competed in Scotland, England, America and Singapore winning a number of prizes including the Amateur World’s Grade 1 at Piping Live in 2016.
In May 2021, she won the Archie Kenneth Quaich – a popular competition for amateur piobaireachd players, usually held in Edinburgh – but played live online due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Villa Guardamangia, where she will play tonight, has recently been bought by the Maltese government and is currently undergoing major refurbishment.
The work is being overseen by Heritage Malta, the national agency for cultural heritage.
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