A small case of butterflies

Camilla had them on her dress, and the ones in my tummy might have been why I forgot to curtsey when meeting her

PHEW, what a week! British royals, the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall, had us running around town to keep up with a rather hectic schedule during their first joint visit to South Africa.

Following the pomp and ceremony of an arrival at Waterkloof Air Force Base, they also had, between them, a tour of Freedom Square, a meeting with corporate leaders, a visit to a women's shelter, two garden parties, a visit to the Nelson Mandela Foundation and dinner with Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe. And that was just the Johannesburg leg.

My highlight no doubt was Soweto, where Prince Charles and Camilla were welcomed by South Africa's High Commissioner to Britain, Zola Skweyiya. The duchess looked lovely in a cream chiffon dress with dainty black butterflies matched with a cream jacket and scarf and a pair of nude heels.

There were no speeches during the two-hour tour, but the Soweto Gospel choir's performance with Danny K was delightful.

I hear Clarence House specifically asked for the choir, which has performed for Prince Phillip and Queen Elizabeth.

The royal couple walked through Freedom Square and occasionally stopped to chat to exhibitors who were showing off some proudly South African goods.

Among these was Sonia Booth, wife of soccer player Matthew, who was showing off her wooden sandal range.

Booth was no doubt caught off guard when the duchess asked why she was not wearing a pair of her own shoes.

I hope you learnt a valuable lesson, darling - you can't sell us the shoes you don't bother putting on.

I was delighted that our local bird man, Raymond Rampholokeng - we featured him in the Sunday Times recently - was also picked as an exhibitor. He was so chuffed when they stopped to chat to him that he gave me his camera to take a happy snap of the moment.

The royals then briefly popped in for what Prince Charles apparently called a "splendid" cuppa at the Soweto Hotel.

Owner Lindiwe Sangweni-Siddo told me Charles had his favourite, Earl Grey tea with runny honey, while his wife settled on a cup of tea with milk and sugar.

Sangweni-Siddo was pleased that the couple were polite enough to take a sip each before dashing off for the remainder of their tour.

Confession time! Okay, so I was not expecting the royals to shake my hand and didn't rehearse my greeting. But I did feel like a royal Mampara when, instead of doing the curtsey and saying "Your Royal Highness" with a nod like people do on TV, I ended up saying just "Hi" when they greeted me.

The embarrassment was soon forgotten when later in the day we had high tea and cucumber sandwiches at the Hyde Park home of British Trade Commissioner Andrew Henderson.

He was away but his wife Julia and the director of the British Council, David Cordingley, welcomed Prince Charles.

Local royals the King of Royal Bafokeng Leruo Molotlegi and businesswoman Dr Anna Mokgokong also formed part of the welcoming party.

This event was attended by about 100 business people who no doubt came to network.

Prince Charles went around the white marquee meeting and greeting and shaking hands with British undergraduate s, Commonwealth scholars and members of the South African Olympic team, including Oscar Pistorius, and Banyana Banyana captain Amanda Dlamini.

Pistorius mentioned that he was off to New York and Paris soon for another round of Thierry Mugler's A Man perfume campaigns - he is, of course, the face of the perfume brand.

Menu: 7/10 - We were served cucumber sandwiches, salmon with cream cheese on mini flapjacks, scones with fig cheese and cream. I loved the chocolate and caramel eclairs.

Decor: 5/10 - The very informal cocktail setup worked well. Tables were draped in white cloth and each had a lovely small vase with pink and white roses which looked like they had just been picked from the garden.

Vibe: 8/10 - We enjoyed background music by the 10-piece Buskaid Soweto String Ensemble. For me, each smile from the high-profile guests after they had shaken hands with royalty was just priceless.

Winning artists

IN between the whirlwind royal tour it was nice to pop in at the Standard Bank Young Artist Awards do on Wednesday night. The annual function at Arts on Main in the CBD is a definite for my social calendar.

Five young artists received the nod for their creative talent, including opera singer Kelebogile Boikanyo, who won in the music category.

She was accompanied by her family and fiancé, Tanyi Besong. Mikhael Subotzky won in the visual art category while Princess Zinzi Mhlongo, who scooped the drama category, said she was very proud to represent Mpumalanga in the city of gold. Kimberley-born Bailey Snyman won for dance while Afrika Mkhize won in the jazz category. His father, jazz legend Themba Mkhize, was there to support him. It was an intimate gathering and guests included songstress Sibongile Khumalo and Lynette Marais, retired director of the National Arts Festival.