Flattery gets you everywhere in football, especially when royalty is on parade at the FA Cup final.
Brian Laws still chortles at the memory of his brief encounter with the future King Charles III and Princess Diana during the pre-match formalities at Wembley.
Some 31 years on, being left out of Nottingham Forest's starting XI, Paul Gascoigne's wild tackles, referee Roger Milford's dereliction of duty and a 2-1 defeat against Tottenham are all sore points for Laws, one of the best right-backs never to win an England cap. But in a sombre week for the Royal Household and the nation at large, his mind wandered back to Forest sovereign Brian Clough introducing himself to the late Princess of Wales in 1991.
“No disrespect to Prince Charles, but that afternoon all the attention was on Diana,” said Laws, now 60 and a co-commentator on BBC Radio Nottingham's airwaves. She was the queen of hearts, probably the most famous woman on the planet.
“When our captain, Stuart Pearce, introduced her to the players, I was last one in the line, standing next to Cloughie. I started laughing, and I couldn't stop, when he told Princess Diana, 'You are more beautiful than I ever thought. I hope we do you proud today.'
“I'm not sure if that breached any Royal protocols or etiquette, but I'm pretty certain Gazza wasn't supposed to kiss her hand. That wasn't the last time Gazza crossed a line on the day!”
We will never know what the people's princess made of Cloughie greeting her in his grey suit with a red-and-white rosette bearing the slogan World's Greatest Grandpa. But she ended up presenting the trophy to Tottenham skipper Gary Mabbutt while Laws, who came off the bench in extra time, admitted the collection of his runners-up medal in the Royal Box was a “blur of disappointment at losing.”
Two decades later, when Laws had just agreed to become Burnley manager after Owen Coyle's defection to Bolton, Charles was a guest at Turf Moor to boost the town's regeneration.
And it's official: The King is a Clarets fan.
Speaking at a Windsor Castle reception two years later, he confirmed: “A consortium of my charities, including the British Asian Trust, has been working in Burnley. Hence some of you asked whether I support a British football club and I said 'Yes – Burnley.' And people have responded 'Burnley?' Oh yes, because Burnley has been through some very challenging times and I’m trying to find ways of helping to raise aspirations and self-esteem in that part of the world.”
Charles has not yet been spotted having a pint with the lads in the Royal Dyche, and Laws confirmed the heir to the throne never conveyed his thoughts on Wade Elliott being deployed as a conventional midfielder or winger.
He said: “I've read that I met Prince Charles when he came to Burnley, but I have no recollection of that happening. I think I would remember meeting the future King of England, and I would be sitting here with a framed picture of the moment. I can remember a photo of the chairman, Barry Kilby, presenting him with a claret and blue shirt with 'HRH 1' on the back. But what a coup for a club to say King Charles is a fan.”
Laws spent six seasons as a player at Forest after signing from Middlesbrough, where he was part of the squad who came back from the brink of extinction to win successive promotions under Bruce Rioch in the mid-1980s. Pre-season drills in 1986, when Boro were locked out of their Ayresome Park home and had no training ground, were conducted in the town's Albert Park.
“At our first session, the boss made us stand in a long line and we wondered what on earth was going on,” said Laws. “He made us walk slowly across the park, like a search party, looking out for dogs ' mess before we could start.”
When Teesside-born Clough discovered Laws was still living in the area, Forest's new full-back would be required to visit Old Big 'Ead's brother Joe at his Middlesbrough home and bring him sacks of potatoes back from his home town.
Come on you spuds? That's enough about the day Tottenham ruined Laws' momentary brush with King Charles III and Cloughie buttered up Princess Diana like one of his brother's prize taters.
But it wasn't the first time FA Cup finalists had blurred the lines of Royal etiquette at Wembley.
Back in 1965, Liverpool's Ron Yeats - the oldest surviving captain to collect the trophy from Queen Elizabeth II – had received a call from Buckingham Palace courtiers a couple of days earlier with instructions only to speak to Her Majesty if she addressed him first, and to reply simply “Yes, Ma'am” or “No, Ma'am” where appropriate.
When Yeats hauled himself up Wembley's 39 steps to the Royal Box following the Reds' 2-1 win over Leeds after extra time, the Queen handed him the old pot and said: “You must be exhausted.” Forgetting his orders from the Palace, Yeats replied: “I'm absolutely knackered.”
Rest in peace, Your Majesty.
