Emily Mortimer becomes royal fan after meeting Prince Charles

Actress Emily Mortimer became an overnight royal family fan after meeting Charles, Prince Of Wales at a garden party.

The Shutter Island star, whose late father Sir John Mortimer was a friend of the British royals, grew up despising the family and what it stood for - but then she met the current heir to the throne and now she cannot get her hands on enough memorabilia to decorate her home in New York.

She says, "I buy the plates, I haul my children out of bed at five in the morning to watch the royal wedding. It's weird. (They have) Union Jack lampshades in their bedroom and all this. It's pathetic, really... The funny things is I was very anti-the royal family when I lived there (England); I thought it was a waste of taxpayers' money... and now I'm just crazy about them.

"My mom and dad vaguely knew them... They knew Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles... One day my mom got invited to a sort of tea party at Clarence House, where Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles live, which Camilla Parker-Bowles was throwing for her friends and their children and grandchildren.

"My mom made us all get dressed up in all our finery... and I was complaining all the way, saying, 'This is ridiculous', and, 'Why are we going to this stupid thing?'"

But the posh bash was "rather lovely" and Mortimer found herself having fun, especially when she was given the task of looking after the baby of her mother's friend.

She recalls, "I was tapped on the shoulder and there was Prince Charles... I don't know what happened. I just lost my mind. I was so over-excited... I sunk into a sort of low curtsy and just went bright red and he was so charming and nice.

"I turned round to look at this baby that I was meant to be looking after and the baby was completely gone. There was no sign of this baby... I was so overcome with emotion of meeting Prince Charles, who I thought I hated but it turned out I was just in love with... About three horrible minutes went by... I found the baby in a rose bush."