Shilpa Shetty's date with Prince Charles

Shilpa Shetty was face-to-face with Prince Charles on Tuesday evening — and still can't get over the meeting — even though Raj Kundra was there to hold her hand! Shilpa, who was at his home in Clarence, says laughingly, "I have been very lucky to have met almost all the heads of state in Britain right from the Queen to Tony Blair and now His Highness Prince Charles. I can't believe it!"

"We raised almost half a million pounds at the British Asian Challenge Match played between Middlesex and The Rajasthan Royals at Lords on July 6. The proceeds of the charity went to Prince Charles's charity fund. His charitable trust gives funds to lots of causes and global warming is one of them." Beau Raj and the Rajasthan Royals team were present too.

Shilpa adds that the meeting with Prince Charles was very formal, "I complimented His Highness on the initiative he's taken towards global warming. He's extremely passionate about the cause and asked me if Indians were aware about it. When I said yes we were he told me, 'be sure and tell the Indian media to write more about as it's a very important cause."

Shetty continues, "Global warming is very serious and scary today. I remember Prince Charles had delivered a speech on it at an international awards event in Yorkshire a couple of years ago. He even knew about my crank lamps and how they save energy."

Apart from serious topics, Shilpa was amused when Prince Charles asked her when she was shifting to the UK. She says, "I am so used to the Indian media asking me such questions that when His Highness asked me for a moment, I was stunned. Later, I heard that one of his aides had briefed him about Raj and me and about Raj being a Britain citizen. Initially, I didn't know how to answer the question. Then I said, 'Well it's already my second home'."