Designer Jimmy Choo has said that he cannot wait be reunited with Prince William at a tea party in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The king of shoes was good friends with William's mother, Princess Diana, meeting him and his brother Harry regularly when they were younger. Friday's party at the British High Commissioner's residence will also be a chance for him to meet the Duchess of Cambridge, one of his high-profile fans.
Ahead of their encounter, Malaysia-born Jimmy has been reminiscing about his visits to the Prince's childhood home." I remember a Christmas party Diana threw at Kensington Palace where William, who was then about 12 years old, was the perfect host. He greeted all the guests and thanked us for coming," he said.
Jimmy has previously described how valuable Diana was to his career, saying "Lady Di helped me a lot. She was always eager to exchange ideas, and she never said no to anything. She was wonderful and used to invite me to Kensington Palace at Christmas for champagne and mince pies."
Now it's the turn of the designer's native country to play host. Many of the guests for this week's soiree have been selected to reflect the Duke and Duchess' interests. Olympic silver medallist Lee Chong Wei and diver Pandelela Rinong Pamg, who became the first female Malaysian athlete ever to win an Olympic medal at this Summer's Games have been invited. As has former Bond girl Michelle Yeoh.
Their hosts plan to offer William and Kate a taste of Malaysia, including the South East Asian 'king of fruits', the durian. Fifty-nine-year-old Jimmy said he believes the Prince will like the strong-smelling delicacy, because he is known for being quite adventurous.
Jimmy, who is a tourism ambassador for Malaysia, added that he would also "love to have them try other Malaysian food favourites like asam laksa and nasi lemak," the former a spicy noodle soup and the latter a fragrant rice dish, often eaten at breakfast.
Pandelela is also keen to give the couple an authentic culinary experience with kek lapis, a cake from her home town Sarawak. The cake is made up of many layers which are often dyed with bright colours and popular at special occasions.
While the athlete is more comfortable in jeans and T-shirts she is excited about making an exception for her date with royalty and tweeted followers to ask for advice about what gift to buy the guests of honour. The 19-year-old added: "I am really excited and hope I don't say anything inappropriate."
