1977: Prince Charles visits St. Louis

This is raw video from the KSDK archive that shows Prince Charles visiting St. Louis for six hours on Oct. 21, 1977. Parts of the video do not have audio.

Back in 1977, before he married Diana and had two sons, prince Charles was one of the most eligible bachelors in the world. As you can imagine the young prince created a lot of excitement during his six hours in St. Louis.

He got quite the welcome at Lambert Airport. St. Louis Mayor James Conway and County Supervisor Gene McNary were among those there to greet him. And students from Kratz Elementary welcomed the prince with a giant banner. He stopped for a few minutes to chat with the students.

Then it was off to the Gateway arch where he shook hands and spoke to well-wishers. Those conversations were difficult to hear because the prince asked security to keep all microphones at least 10 feet away.

A small group of demonstrators protesting the British presence in Northern Ireland also caught Prince Charles’ eye.

Once he got inside the Arch, he rode to the top where his tour guides encouraged him to lean in and look out the window. Prince Charles said the view was “beautiful.”

The next stop was the Old Courthouse, which he walked to from the Arch grounds. Along the way he stopped to watch a performance by The Black American Folklore Society.

Many young women were also in the crowd that day, hoping to meet the prince. Some had better luck than others.

About 200 people greeted Prince Charles when he entered the Old Courthouse, where he was showered with gifts, including a replica of the Arch.

Following a private reception, Charles stepped in front of the microphone.

“When I was in school, I once performed in the round Macbeth. It’s rare that I had a reception in the round. I was so pleased to meet all of you, well, some of you, and shake your hands. I shook quite a few,” said Prince Charles.

He went on to say the visit reminded him of the special relationship Britain has with the United States.

The six-hour visit to St. Louis wrapped up with a tour of the McDonell-Douglas plant, where James McDonnell showed him around in a golf cart.

Prince Charles is no stranger to aviation. He trained as a jet pilot in the Royal Air Force and flew helicopters in the Royal Navy.

He then boarded a plane and flew on to his next stop in the United States.