Doing The Bumps with Prince Charles

Prince Charles playing table football at a drop-in centre in Derby in 1981.

This photograph of a young, bachelor Prince Charles playing table football at a drop-in coffee bar in Pear Tree Road, Derby, in 1981 prompted Sharon Rhule, of Littleover, to bring in a picture of her own, below right.

Sharon, too, met the Prince on that memorable February day – in very intimate circumstances.

“I was part of a dance troupe of about six dancers, who were invited along to the Madeley Centre to perform for him.

Sharon Rhule dancing The Bumps with Prince Charles in 1981

“After we had done our routine, he decided to join in. We were doing a dance called The Bumps, which involved bumping backsides, which, as you can see from the picture, is what we are doing.

“He was very shy but not at all stand-offish. He really interacted and he had a lot of rhythm.”

Sharon, who is now a substance misuse worker, was living in Allenton at the time.

“A group of us used to meet up once a week to dance. We took it quite seriously. We entered a lot of disco dancing competitions around the area at that time and became quite well-known.

“We felt very special to get an invitation to dance for Prince Charles. It was really exciting.

“As far as I know he came for the whole day to visit Derby’s minority communities. He spent time with both the Asian and West Indian communities.”

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