A CROWD of more than 500 people greeted the Prince of Wales when he paid a special Valentine's Day visit to a famous North Yorkshire tea room.

Prince Charles was presented with a Biber Valentine heart when he arrived at the Harrogate branch of Bettys yesterday.

He was served tea by waitresses Pepita Talens and Pilar Vidal, who have 40 years of experience between them, and was presented with a white Yorkshire rose by Bettys singing waitress Claire Cave, a 20-year-old music student at York St John College, who works at the caf in her spare time.

Pupils from St Robert's Catholic School, in Harrogate, had visited the tea rooms earlier in the week to learn how to make the famous Bettys' Fat Rascals, and three of them showed the Prince how the famous speciality was made.

Among the guests he met were branch manager Paula Kaye and waitress Ivy Attmere from Bettys in York.

After being thanked by Bettys chairman Jonathan Wild, the Prince said: "I do think Harrogate is a remarkable place, apart from the fact it's in a county that's equally special, it has a unique additional attraction which is the Great Yorkshire Show. I remember coming to visit the show and I have never forgotten the pleasure of that day."

Updated: 10:26 Saturday, February 15, 2003