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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Zara Woodcock

Denise Van Outen flashed Prince Charles after nicking ashtray from Queen

Denise Van Outen revealed she once flashed Prince Charles after stealing an ashtray from Buckingham Palace.

In her new book, A Bit Of Me: From ­Basildon To Broadway And Back, she details her previous relationship with Eddie Boxshall as well as her wild party days.

When she was still in her 20s in 1998, the star was invited to Buckingham Palace along with Jayne Middlemiss as part of a group of 'young achievers' in media and entertainment.

However, her Big Breakfast Show co-host Johnny Vaughan didn't believe that she was invited so she figured the best way of proving her attendance at the palace was to nick something.

She even revealed on live TV that she stole a toilet roll cover and an ashtray from the Queen, but it backfired and she had to apologise.

She flashed Prince Charles once (Corbis via Getty Images)
She details it all in her new book (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

The incident wasn't buried as, a year later, she was hosting Party In The Park, where Prince Charles was attending.

Although she wanted to shake his hand, she was deemed 'too unpredictable' by royal security.

She remembered: "I marched over to the window of the marquee, and while the Prince was shaking hands with the members of Steps, I called out to him, then pulled up my top and flashed my bra.

"I’m not sure what came over me, and it certainly wasn’t pre-meditated.

"If it had been, I’d have worn one of my posh bras rather than the Marks & Spencer nude one my mum had got me."

The ashtray incident happened when she was just 23 years old.

Former co-host Johnny Vaughan didn't believe she was going to Buckingham Palace (PA)

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Apologising for her mistake on Channel 4's The Big Breakfast Show, the then 23-year-old said: "I am really sorry. It was just a bit of fun."

Denise even sent a gift as an apology.

She reportedly sent the monarch a stuffed toy camel she bought in Tunisia with a note saying: "Sorry, Ma’am. I didn’t mean to give you the hump."

Speaking at the time, a spokesman for the Palace said: "The vast majority of guests don't take anything away as a souvenir.

"We get nearly 50,000 visitors a year and if they all took souvenirs there wouldn't be much left.

"We will leave it to others to judge the rights and wrongs of what she has done."

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