Members of the club were told this week that Prince Charles had accepted the offer to follow in the footsteps of entertainer Johnny Beattie and Second World War veteran Jack Harrison in joining the exclusive ranks of the club's honorary members.
The invitation followed the visit to the town back in June by the Duke and Duchess, when they saw at first hand the work of Bute Healthy Living Initiative, inspected the progress of development work at Rothesay harbour and 'meeted and greeted' a host of locals at the seafront Esplanade gardens.
Club president Bryan Lyle said he was "delighted" at the Duke's decision, which reinforces the close ties between His Royal Highness and the community in Rothesay.
The original suggestion came from Alex Bennett, who was club president at the time of the royal couple's June visit and who was among those introduced to the Duke - though few within the club thought it would actually come to anything, and secretary Bert Alexander admitted that the members were "totally gobsmacked" when the acceptance arrived.
On hearing the news, honorary Rothesay Rotarian Johnny Beattie told us: "To find myself in such illustrious company is very humbling. I met Prince Charles when I received my MBE - there were more than a hundred people there and he spoke to each and every one of them for a good two or three minutes, which takes some doing.
"It's quite something for the club, isn't it? I've got a lot of time for the club, and for any Rotary Club, because they do so much good for their communities."
Until now the only honorary Rotarian among the royal family has been the Duke of Edinburgh, who is an honorary member of the Rotary Club of Edinburgh.
The title of Duke of Rothesay, Scotland's oldest Dukedom, was first conferred by King Robert III of Scotland on his heir, Prince David, in 1398.
The present Duke's previous visit to Rothesay took place in August 2006, when he attended Bute Agricultural Society's 200th anniversary show and the unveiling of a 'cloth of estate' of King James VI of Scotland at Rothesay Castle.
The Rotary Club of Rothesay was formed in September 1950 and currently has around 30 members, meeting each Thursday evening at Kingarth Hotel.
From www.buteman.co.uk:
Rothesay lays out royal red carpet - June 4, 2008
From the web:
Rotary Club of Rothesay official siteDuke of Rothesay - a history from Wikipedia
Prince Charles' biography