I'm very much in love actually, says Charles

Prince Charles told a seven-year-old girl that he loved his fiance Camilla Parker Bowles "very much", during his tour of Australia.

Pamela Kenneally-Murphy gave the Prince a hug and said: "I hope you're in love with the woman you're marrying." Charles replied: "Yes, very much".

He met Pamela as he left a primary school in Melbourne yesterday. Apparently she burst into tears afterwards, overwhelmed by the meeting. She said: "I hope he'll have a great time at the wedding."

The incident has echoes of Charles and Diana's engagement in 1981. On that occasion he was asked: "Are you in love?" He replied: "Whatever in love means."

In his final stop-off on in Australia, the Prince of Wales is today due in the capital Canberra to meet the Governor General Michael Jeffery and Prime Minister John Howard.