Barbra Streisand had 'flirty' relationship with 'utterly charming' King Charles

05 November 2023 , 05:52

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Prince Charles attends a show starring Barbra Streisand (Image: Getty Images)

As Barbra Streisand continues to draw up fanfare for her upcoming memoir, My Name Is Barbra, she has revealed that she didn't realise that "utterly charming" Charles fancied her when they met - and that they had a "flirty" relationship in their youth.

In earlier instances, both of the world-famous faces have admitted to finding the other attractive and Babs even admitted that she got a rare gift from the royal. "I walked by the assistant’s room and saw this bouquet of flowers and said, ‘Who sent me that?’ and she said, ‘A fan called Charles.’ And I said, ‘Really? Let me see the note.’ And there was his seal. They were from his gardens. It was so funny. That’s Prince Charles!"

In an excerpt seen by The US Sun, Barbra reportedly explains in her book that they initially met when Charles was on duty with the Royal Navy in San Diego in 1974. Reportedly, Charles made a beeline for Los Angeles, where Ms Hello gorgeous herself was working on the set of Funny Girl. When asked what he wanted to do in LA, he was said to have replied that he'd like to meet Barbra, “the woman behind the voice".

Prince Charles and Barbara Streisand - on whom the king has admitted to having a bit of a crush on (South West News Service)

The King, 74, is rumoured to have had Streisand, now 81, as his “only pin-up” while studying at Cambridge University as a lad and previously described her as “devastatingly attractive” with “great sex appeal". He also admitted that while his fellow uni students were listening to the likes of Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones, Charles spent his days playing Streisand's albums, and his personal favourite was the soundtrack from her 1968 movie Funny Girl.

In Babs' previous speeches, she's also referenced the idea that she once had a chance with the British monarch - after all, there have always been rumours alluding to that affair. At a gig in the UK a few years ago, Streisand showed the crowd black-and-white photos of herself meeting the prince and joking: "If I had played my cards right, I could have been the first Jewish princess."

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A photo of the famous first meeting between the royal and the award-winning singer (Getty Images)

According to the outlet, Barbra said she was glad she didn't know about Charles' crush or that he had a pin-up poster of her, otherwise, it would have made her "self-conscious." A famous photo captured the moment Streisand offered the future king a sip from her mug of tea, which she says was treated at the time "like an international incident".

Barbra writes: “The fact is, both Prince Charles and I are shy, but somehow we still managed to connect because that proved to be the beginning of an unexpected friendship.” The pair chatted for 15 minutes and had coffee during their meeting, with Barbra said to have been very "nervous" in his presence and "tight-lipped".

While Barbara openly admits to many affairs in her life - she says that she and the King have enjoyed a "close friendship" instead (Sipa/REX/Shutterstock)

They later met again in London in April 1994 when she performed for his Prince's Trust charity at Wembley Arena. According to reports, she later teased him about what the papers would write if they ever got together. During a trip to LA in November of that year, he two allegedly became close after she attended a gala dinner in his honour. Within days, both were said to have cleared their diaries to have an intimate 'tea date' at Charles's Bel-Air hotel.

Both the monarch and Streisand have spoken out publicly about their friendship - which saw them grow very close. In July 2021, Charles appeared on a radio program titled Music and Memories With HRH The Prince Of Wales as part of the UK’s national Thank You Day to honour the NHS for their hard work during the pandemic.

In the interview, he reminisced fondly about the first time he ever met the singer, as he told the presenter: "I have always been a great admirer of the incredibly versatile American actress and singer Barbra Streisand."

More recently, Streisand says that Charles gave her a card with one of his watercolour paintings on it for a birthday, and sent a video message for her 80th. She describes the friendship as “extraordinary”.

Yelena Mandenberg