PRINCE Charles had a right old giggle when he met the cast of EastEnders — and acted the perfect gentleman.
He lent his coat to actress Letitia Dean, who plays Sharon Watts, while being shown around Albert Square by her and co-star Danny Dyer — one of his distant relatives.
Charles visited the soap’s new set with wife Camilla — who revealed she was a fan of the Dirty Den and Angie years — as the cast filmed a special Platinum Jubilee episode.
Shivering in the cold, Letitia, who appeared in the very first episode back in 1985, told Charles: “You’ve got your coat on, very wise.”
The chivalrous prince, 73, then handed it over as they posed for pictures in front of The Queen Vic.
Letitia, 54, told him at the end: “Thanks for lending me your coat. It smelt rather lovely.”
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Fellow tour guide Danny, who found out on Who Do You Think You Are? that he was a direct descendant of Edward III, said the royal visitors had “mad faces”.
But he did not mention his ancestral links, saying: “I don’t think they’d believe me. I met Charles before and I dropped it in. He just looked at me strange but I suppose we are related.
“I am 147,000 (in line) to the throne, not that I’ve Googled it. Very random to see the royals, you know. Up close they were very charming, really chatty. They’ve got mad faces when you’re close.”
Danny, 44, who plays Mick Carter, is leaving this year and told them his exit was “going to be a big one” before teasing: “But I might come back.”
Camilla, 74, was handed a bunch of flowers by deaf Strictly winner Rose Ayling-Ellis, who plays Frankie Lewis.
Camilla said: “Rose, the Strictly star. I said we were all voting for Rose, I don’t know how you did all those dances.”
Asked if the Queen — known as “baked bean” in Cockney rhyming slang — watched the dance show, Camilla replied: “I think she does. She probably watched you.”
Rose, 27, said afterwards: “She mentioned that she voted for me, which is so lovely, and her grandchildren watch it.
“It is amazing, so lovely. I mean, come on, it’s the royal family voting for me. Sometimes you forget how many people watch the show. I am mind-blown.”
Camilla also told Gillian Taylforth, who plays Kathy Beale, she watched her when it first aired. Gillian, 66, revealed later: “She said we were a lot younger then and it’s nice to see the old faces. I said I was in it for 15 years and then left and came back from the dead.
“She said, ‘I remember Angie and Dirty Den, I’ve got a few more episodes to catch up on,’ and Brian (Conley) said, ‘We’ll get you a box set’.
“It’s just so exciting. We were all standing around the corner and we were all having fun, laughing and joking and when they said they’re on their way suddenly I said, ‘My stomach is going right jelly wobbles’. What a wonderful thing. What a lovely, lovely couple.”
Brian, 60, who plays Terry Cant, was sporting a Union Jack suit for the special jubilee episode, to be shown in the summer.
He said: “I explained I am wearing a nylon costume and she said she had handwarmers inside her gloves and didn’t want to shake my hand too hard in case I caught on fire with all the static.”
Charles was also presented with a signed Albert Square street sign. Steve McFadden, 63, who plays hardman Phil Mitchell, told him: “On behalf of the cast, we hope it hangs on the mantelpiece.”
The royal couple were shown around the new £87million EastEnders set in Borehamwood, Herts, on Thursday but the photographs were only released today.
In June, Charles confused the soap for rival Coronation Street as he gave a CBE to Albert Square star Rudolph Walker, who plays Patrick Trueman.
The Queen and Prince Philip had a 45-minute tour of Albert Square in 2001, with the duke asking Adam Woodyatt, who plays Ian Beale: “Are you an actor or an operator?”
