New Delhi: Queen Elizabeth, the longest-reigning monarch of Britain and the nation's figurehead for seven decades, passed away on Thursday at the age of 96. "The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon," Buckingham Palace said in a statement. After her demise, her son Prince Charles is now king. On Friday, an old picture and video of King Charles and Padmini Kolhapure resurfaced on the internet.
The video is from Charles' visit to India in 1981. During his visit, he went to a film studio where Padmini Kolhapure was shooting for her film ‘Ahista Ahista’. The actress greeted him with a peck on his cheek. Following this, she was recognised in Britain as 'the woman who kissed Prince Charles'.
In the video, Padmini can be seen greeting King Charles with a garland and a peck on his cheek. He also looked surprised by her gesture following which the actress is seen leaving the frame laughing.
In 2013, Padmini spoke about the incident in a conversation with the Times of India and said that it was just a peck that became a big thing.
"He was visiting Mumbai and I don’t know what he thought that he wanted to see a shoot. We were shooting for Ahista Ahista at Rajkamal Studios. Shashikala ji did his Indian aarti and I just greeted him with a peck on his cheek. But, in those days, it became a big thing. I remember I went to London for a holiday and this British immigration officer asked me, ‘Are you the same person who kissed Prince Charles?’ I was left embarrassed,” she told the Times of India.
Charles is the oldest British royal in history to assume the throne. His mother, Elizabeth, was crowned Queen when she was 26. He will be proclaimed as the new sovereign by the Accession Council on Saturday.