I kissed THE KING!
PERTH LOCAL JANE PRIEST RECALLS HER HEADLINE-MAKING SMOOCH
Brunette bombshell Jane Priest became a global sensation when she stole a kiss from the future king at Perth’s Cottesloe Beach.
It was 1979 and the thenprince of Wales was visiting Australia on a royal tour. Jane, aged 26, ran over to Charles as he jogged along the shore in his skimpy swim shorts.
Flinging her arms around him, the bikiniclad model proceeded to kiss Charles on the cheek – in full view of the royal press pack!
Speaking to the London Evening Standard some years later, Jane admitted it wasn’t love, a crush, or a summer fling that prompted her brazen peck, but rather a carefully concocted stunt to gain Charles popularity.
“It was a PR thing to make Charles more accessible,” Jane told the newspaper.
In fact, Jane met Charles the night before her ‘casual’ trip to Cottesloe Beach to assess her suitability. However, the royal nearly thwarted the plans!
“When [Charles] saw me, he dived into the water, so I thought I’d follow him in, but as I went in, he got out,” Jane revealed.
“So, I followed him out, hair ruined, makeup ruined, and I felt like such an idiot.”
Not one to waste her moment, Jane decided to throw caution to the wind and leapt to kiss Charles on the cheek anyway – which would explain the shocked look on his face.
“I actually went and put my hands on his chest to give him a kiss and Charles said: ‘No, I can’t touch you,’” she recalled.
The photos, splashed on the front page of newspapers across the world, catapulted Jane to stardom. Moving to Sydney, she modelled in France and America. She become a magazine cover girl and occasionally appeared in TV commercials.
While Jane admits Charles was “charming”, she wasn’t banking on a royal romance.
“It was the briefest encounter, but I thought he was a very charming man,” she told UK paper Daily Express.
“This was a five-minutesof-fame thing. I was never going to be Queen Jane.”
By Brigid Auchettl