The future king and his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, enjoyed a tour today of Global Radio in London, which owns stations including Classic FM - Camilla's favourite, apparently - Heart, Capital and LBC.
In the studio with Classic FM presenter John Suchet the prince admitted that he might have offered some 'gentle persuasion' when advising the Duchess of Cambridge on her wedding music.
Charles, pictured at the BBC today with Fearne
Cotton in the background, paid a visit to various radio stations today
as part of a day to celebrate radio
Duchess on the decks! Camilla getting down at Kiss FM during her visit to Bauer radio in London today
While on a tour of Heart FM CHarles asked DJ
Toby Anstis what song he was playing - and looked blank when he was told
the singer was Christina Aguilera
Asked to choose his favourite piece of music, Charles picked Charles Hubert Hasting Parry’s I Was Glad, which was played when Kate and William walked down the aisle.
'Well I might have offered a bit of subtle influence,' he said archly.
'Don't forget that Elgar thought he was remarkable but for some unknown reason he was forgotten. I thought this was such a tragedy I wanted to revive interest in his music. He is so quintessentially English.'
Charles was so clearly knowledgeable about classical music that he even had presenter John Suchet on the back foot with some of his questions about composers and suites.
He also asked the presenter: 'Can you indulge yourself occasionally by playing a bit of Beethoven?' and congratulated him on 'diplomatically' playing some Wagner, another of his favourite composers.
Upstairs it was a very different matter as he met Heart FM's Toby Anstis, however.
An excited Fearne Cotton tweeted a picture of herself at Radio 1 as Charles and Camilla were given a tour
Charles, who was accompanied on the tour by the
Duchess of Cornwall, spoke about his love of classical music, while the
duchess admitted her favourite station was Classic FM
Politely asking what was currently playing to the station's seven million listeners, he was told it was U.S. superstar Christina Aguilera - a revelation which left the prince utterly blank faced.
Downstairs the prince and his wife met some of the network's well-known presenters including Capital FM Breakfast show hosts Dave Berry and Lisa Snowdon.
Berry said the prince was 'incredibly' polite and apologised for keeping him at the station when he and his partner had been up at 4.30am.
'I couldn't believe how concerned he was, what a top man,' he said.
'Admittedly he knew nothing about the kind of music we played and, as I am so polite, I wasn't going to ask him about the Big Top 40 number one Clean Bandit and whether he liked it.
'But I do have it on good authority, from a very good contact of mine, that William and Kate always have Capital on in the background when they are at home with little Prince George, so we do have a royal seal of approval.'
Charles chatted to Heart FM star and former Spice Girl Emma Bunton - and asked her if the girls might reform
'He is always such a lovely man and it was so nice to see him again,' said Emma after meeting the prince
Charles came face to face with a Dalek during his visit to the BBC, one of the stops on his London-wide radio station tour
Miss Snowdon added: 'The Duchess remembered me when I was on Strictly Come Dancing. She was such a lovely easy going woman. I think she wants to see Dave on it in his Spandex.’
Another familiar face was Heart DJ Emma Bunton who has met the prince many times in her previous guise as a Spice Girl.
‘He is always such a lovely man and it was so nice to see him again. He was asking me about when the Spice Girls were going to reunite. That puts a bit of pressure on you! He always asked after the rest of the girls and how they are doing.’
Her colleague Jamie Theakston added: ‘I think they were both quite fascinated to see how it all worked behind the scenes. They are clearly great radio listeners.’
Myleene Klass, who started her career as a classical musician an now hosts Smooth Classics on Classic FM, spent several minutes chatting to both the prince and his wife.
DJs Jo Whiley, left, and Chris Evans, right, looked delighted to be presented to their Royal guest at the BBC today
‘The Duchess is just lovely and is clearly a listener herself. She said when her father was alive he never turned the station off,’ she said.
‘It also turned out that we shared a dressing room at the Classical Brits and I had to apologise for not tidying it up. I felt mortified!’
The couple were out and about visiting radio stations across London as part of a day to celebrate radio.
Their first visit was to the BBC at Broadcasting House in Portland Place which boasts 10 national and 40 local radio stations as well as the legendary BBC World Service which broadcasts in English and 27 other languages.
The couple toured the BBC newsroom and met with staff at the New World Service headquarters.
Camilla also toured the Woman's Hour offices, for whom she has pre-recorded a piece, and even viewed a rehearsal in the Live Lounge at Radio 1.
Is one getting down to those funky beats? Charles and Camilla included dance radio station Kiss FM on their tour
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