Former Ten star and Project host Sarah Harris has detailed the moment Prince William rejected her during his 2010 Australian tour.
The Aussie journalist, who is the newsreader on Nova 96.9’s Ricki-Lee & Tim, recounted her interaction with the Prince of Wales to listeners on Thursday, revealing that she “offered” to give Prince William her mobile phone number.
“He wasn’t actually engaged to Kate yet, and I was following him around…for work, he was over doing a tour of Australia and New Zealand,” she told hosts Ricki-Lee Coulter and Tim Blackwell.
According to the 44-year-old, Prince William “got all the press together and took us all out for a beer” at the very beginning of the tour “just to kind of get to know us”.
“I was working for the Today show at the time, and I said to him, ‘Look, I just need some little fun titbits that I can throw out when I do my crosses to the Today show. Like something on your iPod playlist.'”
Prince William allegedly replied: “Nothing’s really coming up right now.”
The moment saw Harris shoot her shot with the prince, telling him: “Well, how about I give you my phone number, and if anything comes to mind…”
The pick-up line unfortunately fell short with the royal, who did not give the journalist his digits and, instead, replied: “You Aussies are crazy!”
In January 2010, Prince William visited Sydney and rural Victoria as part of a tour focusing on community engagement and disaster support following the 2009 bushfires.
He also embarked on a visit to New Zealand, where he officially opened the Supreme Court building in Wellington and attended a number of cultural engagements in Auckland.
Harris – who hosted The Project for two and a half years before it was axed by Channel Ten last year – revealed in February that she would be joining Sydney’s Nova 96.9’s breakfast show, Ricki-Lee & Tim, as a newsreader.
“This is a massive pinch me moment!” Harris said in a statement.
“There’s something hugely intimate and authentic about radio and I’m so pumped to be waking up with Ricki-Lee and Tim.
“I’ve been in the TV news game my whole career and I love that I’m getting the chance to deliver it on Nova 96.9 and without spending an hour in the hair and makeup chair!”