One of rock music's biggest and least inhibited personalities, Courtney Love has always had a fabulous gift for outrageous storytelling, making her a popular guest on TV chat shows over the years. But very few of her telly appearances were as memorable as her guest spot on The Russell Brand Show on December 1, 2006.
The controversial comedian's chat show only ran for five episodes on Channel 4 in the winter of 2006, but he was able to attract some big names to join him on his Friday night programme, including Sharon Osbourne, Amy Winehouse, Morrissey, Primal Scream and The League of Gentlemen stars Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton. But it was former Hole vocalist/guitarist Love's appearance which proved to be TV gold.
Just a matter of weeks before the show was filmed, Love was the subject of a profile in The Times newspaper, during which she revealed that she had once met Prince Andrew in the company of Creation Records boss Alan McGee: "Prince Andrew said that I made the best cup of tea he'd ever had," she told her interviewer. But it turned out that this wasn't Love's only brush with the man British tabloid newspapers used to love to call 'Randy Andy'.
While flicking through her book alongside the host, Love tried to find "a really good picture of me and Prince Andrew", which promoted Brand to ask about a rumour that the prince once showed up unannounced at Love's Los Angeles home.
"He wanted to party," Love confirms. "Prince Andrew turns up at my house at one in the morning, and he wants to party... I don't know what he expected at my house. I answered the door and he was there, with a bodyguard, and I was, like, [tentatively], Hi. At one point, he did ask me on the couch, 'So what do you do all day?' What do I do all day? Sheeesh..."
