Penny Lancaster has revealed that her husband Rod Stewart wakes their children each morning by playing Scottish bagpipe music at full volume, a tradition the children reportedly dislike. The model and TV personality shared the story during an appearance on ITV's Loose Women.
A Loud Start to the Day
The couple, married since 2007, share two children: Alastair Wallace Stewart, born in 2005, and Aiden Patrick Stewart, born in 2011. Rod is also father to six older children from previous relationships.
Penny explained that her husband's approach to waking the children differs from her own gentler method. While she prefers a soft touch, Rod opts for a louder solution involving traditional Scottish bagpipe music played at full volume.
Scottish Heritage and Family Traditions
The singer's love of bagpipes stems from his Scottish roots, with his father, Robert Stewart, having been born in Scotland. Although Rod was born and raised in north London, he has maintained a connection to Scotland and has spoken about his pride in his family's background.
That love of Scottish tradition extends to family celebrations, with Penny saying the children were christened in Scotland and bagpipes have become a regular feature at special occasions.
The Bagpipe Alarm Clock
Speaking on Loose Women, Penny said: "I love the bagpipes. My husband's heritage, his father's Scottish, our children were christened in Scotland, and there's lot of bagpipes at every celebration. It's a very heartwarming sound."
She added: "However, it can be quite triggering to our children. Rod has subjected them to the bagpipe alarm clock."
Explaining the routine, Penny said she takes a softer approach: "So mummy does a very gentle 'come on darling, wake up.' Open the curtains just a little bit, 'I'll be back in five minutes to give you a little stir.' No. My husband goes in and says 'get up' and five minutes later they're not, on goes the CD of Scottish bagpipes. On a little CD box and he puts it on the other side of the room, so they have to get out of bed to turn it off."
Penny added: "And then I got a phone call the other week going 'mum, dad's done the bagpipes!'" Fellow panellist Charlene White asked: "So he still does it?" Penny confirmed the singer has not given up the habit, revealing he used it with all his children and had done so with their 15-year-old son the previous week.
Charlene joked: "Wow and I bet Aidan's a massive fan." Penny replied: "They can't bear it. They hate it."
Viewer Reactions
Viewers shared their reactions in the comments section of the clip on Instagram. One person wrote: "I laughed so much picturing Rod doing that!," while another commented: "My late father did this over 60 years ago! Up and out, if there were farm jobs to do."
One user suggested the children could play Rod's song Maggie May in return, writing: "You know, their kids could in theory, crank up the line from Maggie May, 'Wake up, Maggie, I think I got somethin' to say to you…' at around midnight close to Rod's slumber."
