Pop royalty met actual royalty when Spice Girls star Geri Horner was reunited with Prince Charles two decades after she patted his bottom.
Horner, who first met Charles at a Prince’s Trust event in 1997, hailed him a “Spice Boy” as the two caught up at the charity’s Invest in Futures Reception at The Savoy Hotel on Thursday night.
“He’s part of our heritage and the landscape of the Spice Girls,” she said of the future king. “We consider him as a Spice Boy.”
Horner, who was joined by her husband Christian Horner, defied royal protocol in 1997 to give Charles a kiss on the cheek before patting him on the bottom.
The singer made the admission in 2016 after years of reports claiming she had actually pinched the royal’s derriere.
“I didn’t pinch Prince Charles’s bum, as was reported,” she told The Times. “I patted it. Patting him on the bottom was against royal protocol but we’re all human.
“It was the premiere of our film, Spice World, in the late Nineties. There was a lot of nervous energy – young women, happy antics.”
Horner was among a host of celebrities who joined Prince Charles on Thursday night including Fearne Cotton and her husband Jesse Wood.
This Morning presenter Phillip Schofield was also in attendance with his wife Stephanie Lowe, with the two sharing a joke with Charles.
The event encourages donors to help disadvantaged young people into work, training or enterprise.
Horner will hit the road later this year for the long-awaited Spice Girls reunion alongside Emma Bunton, Melanie C and Melanie B.
Victoria Beckham, aka Posh spice, ruled herself out, saying her focus is on spreading girl power through her fashion line.
But she teased the possibility of a cameo when the group performs at London’s Wembley Stadium.
Asked if she will be tempted to jump up on stage during an interview with Good Morning America she said: “I mean I don’t know. Let’s see.”
