King Charles was once the world's most eligible bachelor - and he had a not-so-secret crush on a Hollywood actress. While studying at Cambridge University in the late 1960s, it's claimed the young Prince became 'obsessed' with Barbra Streisand and said she was his "only pinup".
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. "People look at me in amazement when I say she is devastatingly attractive with a great deal of sex appeal," the royal once wrote.
According to American author Christopher Andersen in his upcoming biography 'The King: The Life of Charles III', the future monarch saw Funny Girl three times.
"A framed photograph of Streisand hung in his rooms at Cambridge and went up on the wall of his bedroom at Buckingham Palace after graduation," writes Anderson.
When he was docked in Los Angeles while serving as an officer in the Royal Navy, a 26-year-old Charles requested to meet Streisand on the set of the Funny Girl sequel.
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".
Andersen claims Charles wrote in his Navy journal that he "really wanted to get to stay and know her" but she had to get back to filming Funny Lady.
The Prince later wrote: "I still contend she has great sex appeal."
In his 2018 book, Games of Crowns, the author alleged that Princess Diana's confidante Lady Elsa Bowke said Charles became so close to the American star the princess "would not have been surprised if they had an affair".
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 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.
King Charles has spoken about his friendship with the American singer, telling The Times he will "never forget her dazzling, effervescent talent".
In a radio interview in July last year, Charles "great admirer" of Barbra's as he chose the song Don’t Rain on My Parade as one of his favourite tracks.
He explained: "Back in 1974, when I was serving in the Royal Navy…as a young lieutenant in the frigate HMS Jupiter, we called into the United States navy’s base in San Diego, California…when I heard that she was currently making the film Funny Lady.
"I was lucky enough to visit the set and to meet her there. I shall never forget her dazzling, effervescent talent and the unique vitality and attraction of her voice and her acting ability.
"This next song, 'Don’t Rain on my Parade,' is therefore full of special memories of—I hardly dare think of it now—47 years ago."
The King is not the only one to have spoken about their relationship, as Barbra told Lorraine's Ross King about their meetings over the years.
She said: "He asked to meet me. So he came to the recording studio... I offered him a sip of tea and I thought, 'They didn't have to test me for poison or something? No.'"
The American star explained they quickly "became friends", adding: "And I loved spending some time at Highgrove for a weekend fundraiser and going through his gardens."
Charles even sent her a very special gift - but her assistant mistook it for a present from a fan.
She remembered: "I walked by [the assistant's] room and I saw this bouquet of flowers and I said, 'Who sent me that?' and she said, 'A fan called Charles.' And I said, 'Really? Let me see the note,'" Streisand recalled. "And there was [Prince Charles's] seal."
Streisand noticed that the flowers looked unique because they were from the royal gardens, rather than a florist.
She noted: "They were from his gardens and it's a different look—the flowers—when they're garden flowers."
"She just mistook it for a fan," Streisand said. "It was so funny, I thought. That's Prince Charles! That was before he met Diana."
Streisand, who has been married twice and has one son, joked that she could have been his bride.
Barbra added: "I had a very funny line on stage when he came to see the show. I said, 'You know, if I played my cards right, I could have wound up being the first Jewish princess!'"
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