Actor, comedian and writer Mr Fry recalled how there was a special show for the 50th birthday of the Prince of Wales, which he was hosting, and the Spice Girls were also featured. There was a line up afterwards and Emma Bunton, also known as Baby Spice, had an outrageous question for the prince: she asked him whether he had a ‘Prince Albert’. Charles did not know that a ‘Prince Albert’ is a piercing of the penis, but thought she was referring to his great-great-great grandfather, Queen Victoria’s husband.
An awkward Mr Fry had to explain to him what she really meant.
He recalled his bizarre interaction on The Graham Norton Show in 2017.
Mr Fry said: “[The Spice Girls] didn’t care, that was all girl power, you know.
“And the Prince of Wales was all ‘Wonderful, lovely, thank you very much’.
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“And he got to them and the first thing Emma Bunton said to him was: ‘Oh sir, sir, hi miss sir, do you have a Prince Albert?’
“And he said, ‘Yes, I’m his great-great-great grandson, yes, Prince Albert’ and she said, ‘No, do you have one?’
“And he said, ‘Well he was the husband of Queen Victoria..’
“So he looked at me completely baffled and he didn’t know what a Prince Albert was.”
Elton John, who was also a guest on the show, commented that it was certainly “an icebreaker”.
Chat show host Graham Norton brought up a picture of Prince Charles meeting the Spice Girls, with Mr Fry standing nearby.
Mr Norton joked that everyone seemed “very distracted” by Geri Halliwell, also known as Ginger Spice, who was wearing a low-cut top, adding that Charles was “pointing at her absent-mindedly”.
Mr Fry then recalled that Charles once told him a piece of advice his father, Prince Philip, had once told him.
The Duke of Edingburgh advised his son that, when meeting women in a life-up, he must always look her in the eyes and never, ever let his eyes drop at all.
This is because if a picture was taken at that exact moment, it would look like he was ogling her chest.
Mr Fry said: “He did tell me ‒ I think it’s ok to repeat this ‒ the Prince of Wales did tell me once that the best piece of advice his father had ever given him was: when you’re doing a lineup and there are women, always look only into their eyes.
“Don’t for a second let your eyes drop to their chest because that is when the photograph goes off.
“And if you look, he’s not looking down”
“All the rest of us, even us gay boys, are looking down.”
