I've always been fond of this song, mostly because it was so much fun to write. It was intended to be light, comedic commentary on the (then) recent marriage of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer.

I thought it was one of our better songs at the time ... however, even though he'd not yet met them, Bryan was concerned about possibly offending the royal couple.  As a result, he decided to exclude the song from his "Reckless" album. It languished in relative obscurity, only appearing (as far as I know) as a B-side on Bryan's #1 single "Heaven".

When Charles and Diana visited Vancouver to officially open the 1986 World Fair, the British press got their hands on a copy of the track and attempted, unsuccessfully, to fabricate a scandal. Not only did Bryan have a secret and very inappropriate "crush" on the Princess, they said, but he had insulted the future king of England with lyrics like "Whatcha doin' with a guy like him?". It was front page news in Canada and the UK.

In the time of Henry VIII a song like this might have got us beheaded, but Charles didn't pose such a threat -- and anyway, he was about to get into enough trouble on his own, thanks to his soon-to-be-public affair with mistress Camilla Parker-Bowles, and the eventual collapse of his marriage to Diana.

In March 1986, a few months before the World Fair, Adams and I were living in London, writing songs at Zomba Studios. One day A&M Records (Bryan's label at the time) sent us tickets for the "Prince's Trust" concert at the Royal Albert Hall, with Supertramp headlining. Even more exciting, we were invited to a small pre-show reception, which the Prince and Princess would be attending!

We were told to arrive no later than 8:00 pm, after which time the hall would be "locked down" for a security sweep. No-one, we were sternly warned, would be admitted after 8:00 pm!!

My apartment was just a few minutes down the road from the Albert Hall. Bryan suggested he and his girlfriend Vicki meet me at my apartment at 7:30 and we'd all take the bus together. As it turns out, they didn't arrive until 7:55, and Bryan had forgotten our tickets at Vicki's place across town!  There was not enough time to fetch them.

"Don't worry", said Bryan, "We'll get in!".

We ran down to Kensington High Street and jumped on the bus, arriving in front of Albert Hall with just seconds to spare. It's a huge oval building, and we jogged around the perimeter until we found the "stage door", manned by an elderly security guard in a small booth.

Out of breath, Bryan gasped: "We're here to meet the Prince and Princess, but we've forgotten our tickets!". The guard just scowled, and looked us up and down.

That's it, I thought. We're not getting it.

"Alright, in you go", he said, waving us through the door. It was like the "Troll" scene from Monty Python's Holy Grail film ... ("What's your favourite colour?").

So much for security!

Once inside we sprinted up the stairs and down the corridor. There was a maze of hallways and we had no idea where we were going.  Luckily, we ran into our contact from A&M, who'd been frantically searching for us. He ushered us into an ornate, high-ceiling room where about 15 people, including the members of Supertramp, stood talking quietly.

We didn't have long to wait before a palace representative came into the room announced that the Prince and Princess would be arriving shortly. He listed a few simple rules:  he asked that we not speak to Charels and Diana unless they spoke to us first. And if they did speak to us, we were to address them as "Sir" and "Ma'am" ... in other words, this was an informal evening for the royal couple.

A moment later two very large doors opened, and in they walked!

Adams and I were closest to the door, and upon catching sight of the Prince, Adams waved and shouted, "Charles!". Apparently unfazed by the breach of protocol, Charles made his way in our direction while Diana walked to the opposite side of the room.

"And where are you gentlemen from?", asked the Prince. "Canada", we replied. "Ah yes, Canada", he muttered, as if that explained everything.

	Bryan meeting Diana for the second time, Vancouver World's Fair, 1986

We spoke to the future king for a few moments, and then he moved on. After a while Diana came over to where we were standing. This was the first time we'd met her, although there'd be several more occasions for Bryan over the next few years.

We talked with Diana for five or ten minutes, mostly about music. When we mentioned Duran Duran she laughed and said the press had got it all wrong -- they weren't her favourite band at all.

She was interested to learn we were Canadian, and told us that she and Charles were scheduled to appear at the opening of the World Fair in Vancouver in a few month's time (which we already knew, of course).

Diana was funny and charming and very easy to talk to. Like everyone else on the planet, I was devastated when I heard she'd died. I'm grateful I had the chance to meet her, if only for a few minutes.