Sweet treats for foodie Prince

The Special Air Service Regiment must really love the house-made banoffee éclairs from Bindoon Bakehaus because the sweet was among their suggestions to new mate Prince Harry, who caved in to temptation yesterday morning and stunned bakery staff when he walked through the doors.

The fourth – nearly fifth – in line to the throne told staff the SAS had raved about the bakery and told him he needed to visit during his training trip to the Army’s Bindoon facility yesterday.

Suzanne Blay, who served the prince, said he approached the counter with a couple of other people just after 11am and explained that the SAS “guys” had told him to pop in.

“They told him they had spent so much money here during their visits about twice a week that they had basically paid for the bakery building,” Ms Blay said.

“He said they told him he had to stop in because everything is so good.”

Dressed in jeans, a hoodie and an army fatigues-style cap, Prince Harry spent several minutes chatting with staff before selecting and paying for a take-away banoffee éclair.

“He was so lovely – such a really nice down-to-earth guy,” Ms Blay said.

“He caught an accent when he spoke to one of the girls and asked where she was from.”

The SAS have good taste, judging by their food suggestions, and the handsome young royal has proved to be quite a foodie since his arrival in WA on Wednesday, creating a buzz in venues from Fremantle to the CBD and beyond.

He may well be one of the world’s most famous men, but in North Freo even Prince Henry of Wales was asked for his name after placing an order at Flipside burger bar on Queen Victoria Street about 7.30pm on Thursday.

The 30-year-old couldn’t resist laughing when he realised the humour in the name of the $15.50 burger he had ordered – the QVB, named after his great-great-great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria, staff member Tess Dillon said

“He had a look at the menu but he’s very down to earth and looked like a normal customer so it took me a minute to process who he was before I asked for his name, which was silly but it was out of habit and then I thought, ‘my god, I know what his name is’,” the sheepish 19-year-old said.

“Luckily his friend gave me his name so it made it less awkward.

“Then he asked what’s the biggest burger and what’s got everything in it.

“So I explained it’s the QVB, which is the Queen Victoria Burger, and he thought that was very funny and fitting.”

The casually dressed prince waited outside for a few minutes until his take-away burger and chips were ready, then “very politely” said goodbye and left.

“It was definitely a star-struck moment, but very funny,” Miss Dillon said.

Flipside owner Hamish Fleming said he was pleased that someone had recommended the burger bar to Prince Harry.

“The group he was with obviously wasn’t going to take him anywhere that they thought was going to be disappointing, so that’s very exciting,” Mr Flemish said.

“I guess the guy’s got to eat, doesn’t he, so I’m sure there will be lots of places he’ll be visiting during this trip.”

Hours after arriving in Perth on Wednesday, Harry amazed patrons at The Stables Bar in the CBD when he chose to have dinner with friends in the main dining room instead of a private area.

“He didn’t want any special treatment and didn’t want a fuss made. I think he just wanted to be like everyone else – to be left alone to get to know the guys that he’s working with,” The Stables owner Tim McLernon said.

“We treated him like he wanted to be treated – like any normal guest.

“I think he feels comfortable in Perth and that he’s not going to get harassed by people, which I’m told is fairly unusual for him to come out to a CBD bar and sit with everyone else and be a normal person.

“I spoke to someone in the UK who said that would never happen over there, that there would be people all over him, so I was pleasantly surprised that people were respectful enough of a well-known person who deserves a bit of space and privacy to enjoy dinner.”

Prince Charles believes his youngest son Harry is having a ball in Australia partly because he’s a red-haired “ranga”.

“I suspect my old Harry is pretty well acclimatised by now and will probably be eating lamingtons, Vegemite sandwiches, Iced VoVos and Violet Crumble bars – and may even be threatening to buy a pair of budgie smugglers,” Prince Charles said.

“Whatever the case, I am sure he’ll be happy Down Under because of the Aussies’ fondness for rangas.”