As the future King, the Prince of Wales is constantly expected to steer well clear of scandal. So it came as a surprise – and raised many giggles from onlookers – to see the Prince cutting into a bra at a charity event held at St James’s Palace on Wednesday.
The event was held in honour of the breast cancer charity Walk The Walk, which marks its 20th anniversary this year. In the course of the celebrations, Prince Charles cut into a cake decorated with a bright pink bra, joking: “I’ve never tried cutting a bra before.”
The decorations on the cake were a reference to Walk The Walk’s popular MoonWalk, in which men and women walk marathons in bras to raise awareness about breast cancer. His Royal Highness was also given a similarly shaped pink bra pin badge, which he proudly wore.
Two of the stars of BBC’s Absolutely Fabulous, Jennifer Saunders and Harriet Thorpe, are regular supporters of MoonWalk and were present at the event alongside Prince Charles. “It’s the simplicity of it, the immediacy,” Harriet Thorpe said. “It’s about all of us walking together through the night for this cause, and that’s what matters.”
Meanwhile, Ms Saunders was appreciative of the Prince’s support for the charity. “It’s a brilliant thing for a man to do and we know how keen he is to sort it and to support this,” she said, adding: “There are so many interesting stories – husbands who are walking for their wives who have died of breast cancer. It’s an incredibly emotional, moving event.”
Walk The Walk was started by Nina Barough in 1996, who had the idea to walk the New York City Marathon in a bra along with 12 other women in order to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer research. The organisation also entered a team of walkers in the London Marathon the following year, and in 1998, it was registered as an official charity. Since then, Walk The Walk has managed to raise £113 million for breast cancer charities.
Prince Charles became Patron of Walk to Walk in 2004. In the course of the event, he offered a few words of praise for the charity, saying: “More than anything I wanted to wish you a very happy 20th birthday. And above all to congratulate dear Nina on this amazing achievement.”
“It is an astonishing achievement to have raised a hundred and thirteen million pounds and if I may say so to have passed so much of it onto the organisations of which I am patron. All I can say is I hope you have many more years.”
