KISS, smacker, smooch or snog? Whatever you call it, Prince Charles was overwhelmed with amorous women when he visited the Spode factory in Church Street, Stoke, back on March 2, 1998.

Under the headline True Prince Charming On Staffs Walkabouts, it was reported that “grown women turned weak at their knees”, and “a succession of ladies planted smackers on Prince Charles’s cheeks” during several impromptu walkabouts.

One of them was factory worker Stephanie Kelly, who said: “I have met him several times and I was determined to grab him for a kiss as he left. He’s wonderful.”

Earlier, the Prince was also caught out after officially opening the Claybourne residential centre for people with Alzheimer’s Disease, in Chell.

As he left the Turnhurst Road complex, a crowd of up to 200 people waved him off – including a group of amorous ladies.

His visit to Spode, according to then-managing director Paul Wood, was the first by a Prince of Wales since 1806, and was met with equally large crowds.

Ray Elks, aged 57, was the manager of the visitor centre on site at the time, and remembers the day well, not to mention the effect it had on the ladies.

“I was one of the people involved in making sure the day ran smoothly,” he says, “and that day it wasn’t a case of the Spice Girls, but the Spode Girls.

“The atmosphere on the day was buzzing. I was inside making sure everything was ready, but I’m told there were lots of people waiting to see him outside, and they had to redirect the traffic, which meant his cavalcade went along a one-way street the wrong way. He actually arrived at the factory late, because he’d been so enthralled by his visit to Chell, so he was very apologetic.

“In areas where the prince wasn’t going, the staff were able to go outside and see what was going on, as it was very much a factory family ethos, and it was a big event. Fortunately, the weather was good that day, so people could stand out in the main courtyard.

“Although there was security, it was still quite informal. There were no barriers to keep people back, and no-one stopped these ladies approaching the prince, but he was very good about it all.

“I have a photograph of him with me, the Lord Lieutenant and the managing director, after myself and the curator had taken him around the visitor centre museum and demonstration centre.

“It was a really good day for the people here, as he was presented to several members of staff, and it was on his way out that he was ambushed by all the ladies kissing him. I remember it very vividly, as one of them came across and he gave in to their advances. He took it all in his stride and had a good laugh about it all.”

But having spent so much time talking to staff, the prince found himself so short of time that Ray says he had no chance to enjoy the buffet lunch the factory had laid on.

“He didn’t have time to have any,” says Ray, “so we were asked to provide him something as a packed lunch which he could have in the car on his way to Longton.

“But he thoroughly enjoyed his time here, and that showed as he was relaxed, there wasn’t the usual stuffy formality, and people were really happy to see him.”