It’s the seaside kiss that shocked everyone and, 45 years later, is still talked about every time King Charles visits Australia.
Charles was one of the world’s most eligible bachelors when he visited Cottesloe Beach, Western Australia, as part of a royal tour commemorating the 150th anniversary of British settlement of Australia in 1979.
The heir to the throne, 30, was taking advantage of the seaside stopover to surf in his vans when local beauty Jane Priest swooped in for a kiss.
The moment, caught on camera, made the front pages of newspapers around the world and catapulted the 26-year-old single mother and part-time model to international stardom.
Photos of the then Prince of Wales, dressed only in his bathing suits and smiling widely, also did wonders for his image in England.
And that was just the idea.
Jane Priest pounces on the then Prince of Wales on Cottesloe Beach in Western Australia during her royal tour of the state in 1979.
Priest has since revealed that the entire encounter had been a carefully staged “publicity stunt” designed to make the young prince appear more approachable.
Although it looked like an impromptu spike in the cheek, she had actually been summoned to meet Charles the night before the meeting to ensure she fit the bill as an attractive, young, fun-loving Australian.
“When I see photographs of Charles, everything comes back to me,” he told London’s Evening Standard newspaper in 2004.
“I was in my twenties, here was one of the most powerful men in the world and he was absolutely adorable. I was totally overwhelmed for those two minutes.
‘My meeting with Charles on the beach was not my suggestion, it was theirs.
“It was a public relations thing to try to make Charles more accessible.”
Priest revealed that he made his now famous move against the prince while his five-year-old son, Simon, sat building sandcastles on the beach just meters away.
But not everything went as planned.
Jane Priest, a single mother in her 20s at the time, took the opportunity to give the future king a kiss despite his protests at the time.
“It was a staged photograph of the Prince of Wales meeting a native of Australia, but he put a stop to it,” he told the Evening Standard.
Even though he had his hair and makeup specially done for the moment, knowing that it would be captured on film, the shy prince decided to play hard to get.
“When he saw me he jumped into the water, so I thought about following him, but when I went in, he came out,” she said.
“So I followed him outside, hair ruined, makeup ruined, and I felt like an idiot.”
“I actually went and put my hands on his chest to give him a kiss and Charles said, ‘No, I can’t touch you, I can’t touch you.’
Her stunning looks appeared on the cover of Australia’s Playboy in the early 1980s and she has since partially retired from occasional television advertisements and other work.
Now 71, she lives a quiet life in a sandstone mansion fit for a princess in Sydney’s northern suburbs while her son is a scientist.
Priest suggested that the photo was staged in an attempt to make the then Prince of Wales appear more approachable.
Priest, now 71, recalled the 2004 photo when she admitted she was never going to become “Queen Jane” because her “background wasn’t clean enough.”
Charles returned to Perth in 2015 for another tour where he was accompanied by his now wife Camilla.
The future king alluded to the furtive kiss when asked to recount his warmest memories of the city.
“These memories are of enormous importance to me, and also all the memories of all the kindness you have shown me and the fun I have had in this part of the world,” he said.
“Memories of swimming very early in the morning on the beach, when one or two people were sent running from the waves and doing unspeakable things to me.”
Charles arrived in Australia on Friday for his first official visit since becoming king in September 2022.
Priest also recalled in 2012 when she admitted that she was never going to become ‘Queen Jane’.
“Otherwise, my background was not clear enough,” he said.
King Charles landed back in Australia on Friday for the first time since his coronation in 2022.
He will tour Sydney and Canberra to meet with supporters and leaders during the five-day tour.
