Wellington: A zealous fan kissed Britain’s Prince Charles in New Zealand on Thursday, grabbing the heir to the throne as he went walkabout in the southern city of Dunedin.

The royal security detail scrambled into action but could not stop Lesley Hayde from planting a peck on the prince’s cheek then doing the same to his wife Camilla.

Hayde had been waiting outside Dunedin Railway Station to see the royals and said she thought a clinch with Charles would be ‘a good laugh’.

‘When he came out I shouted ‘give us a kiss Charlie’,’ the 69-year-old, originally from Yorkshire, told reporters.

‘I couldn’t believe it when he turned around and came towards me and said ‘oh, I don’t know if we should do that’ and I just grabbed him and got a kiss.

‘Then I got a kiss from Camilla after that and a great big strong arm was trying to grab hold of me at the same time.’

The grandmother of six said she initially thought security might lock her up but they soon realised she was harmless.

‘It was brilliant,’ she said, adding that she got to kiss her prince ‘and I didn’t turn into a frog’.

Charles and Camilla are on a seven-day tour of New Zealand that Prime Minister John Key said was intended to build a rapport with Kiwis before he eventually becomes king.

They will then travel to Australia next Tuesday.