As a rare and illustrious EGOT winner, Barbra Streisand is her own brand of royalty. But Streisand was also the subject of a crush from none other than King Charles, back when he was a prince – and the crush was relatively reciprocated!
Streisand is telling her story in unprecedented detail with her new memoir, My Name is Barbra, which was released on November 7. Streisand, 81, was already active in the industry for a decade when the then-prince graduated from Cambridge in ‘70. While he admired just a poster of the Tony winner, their paths would cross four years after Charles became the first heir apparent to earn a university degree.
Barbra Streisand reveals the crush King Charles had on her
Streisand’s entry into showbiz was a difficult one, with her often beseeching friends for a place to sleep each night; her mother wanted Streisand to give up her efforts. But she remained determined, and good thing too, because Streisand got her big break in the role of Fanny Brice in 1965’s Funny Girl, which established her as a Broadway powerhouse. The momentum just kept building from there.
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Her stardom reached international audiences just in time for Streisand to be the object of many people’s affections, including that of Prince Charles. In her memoir, Streisand reveals that she was told she was the “only pinup” Charles hung in his room at Cambridge.
“Who knew?” she marveled. “Certainly not me, and it’s probably better that I didn’t when we met, because it would have made me self-conscious.”
Meet they certainly did.
The crush Charles harbored might have been returned by Streisand
Charles graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge, in the summer of 1970 after studying archeology, anthropology, and history. 1974 saw Charles on naval duty, stationed in San Diego. There, Charles visited a Los Angeles recording studio, where Streisand was busy recording the soundtrack to Funny Lady.
“The prince was utterly charming when he came to the studio,” recalls Streisand, “but frankly, it’s hard to have a real conversation when you’re surrounded by fifty photographers snapping pictures.”
Her memoir continues, “I was drinking tea and offered him a sip… and the future king of England actually drank from my cup, which was apparently unprecedented.”
These two ships in the night continued passing one another, including in ‘94 when Charles attended one of Streisand’s concerts in London. Knowing the royal audience she was hosting, she “thought it would be so much fun to sing ‘Someday My Prince Will Come’ while a real prince was sitting in the Royal Box.”
She further revealed, “Onstage I told the story of the first time we met in 1974, when I was recording songs for Funny Lady and we shared a cup of tea (as the news footage of that meeting played on the Jumbotron). And then I couldn’t resist adding, ‘Who knows? If I had been nicer to him, I could have been the first real Jewish princess!’”
Back at her hotel, Streisand found herself the recipient of an unusual bouquet of flowers; they were not prim and neatly arranged, but looked more like something from a regular backyard. They were from “some guy named Charles,” complete with a royal insignia at the top.
According to Streisand, the two are still friends to this day.
