HE ARRIVED with an entourage of more than 30, requested a traditional cream tea, and spent several thousands of pounds during a four-hour stay.

The Crown Prince of Thailand’s visit to an antique shop in Hartley Wintney left staff slightly overwhelmed after he selected the venue as somewhere to visit during his holiday to the UK.

Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn requested The White Lion Antiques Centre shut to the public on June 20 so he could have the space entirely to himself.

The heir to the Thai throne arrived in a Mercedes with his wife, the Princess Consort Srirasmi, along with Ambassador of Thailand, Kitti Wasinondh.

The couple browsed around the store for four hours, and bought more than 300 items of fine bone china to add to their collection, totalling several thousand of pounds.

The Prince partly chose to visit the shop because of its tea shop, which serves traditional cream teas and which he wanted to sample on his trip to the country.

Jerry Mahony, owner of the shop, said: “It was a great honour to have him visit us. He was on holiday and flew into Farnborough in a private 737. I didn’t know about it until two days before.

“We shut the centre, and they spent a long time here. I showed them around. It was a really interesting visit.”

The Prince had around 15 security guards who arrived beforehand.

Mr Mahoney, a 52-year-old father-of-three, from Sherfield-on-Loddon, added: “You would expect him to visit somewhere in London, so it was a massive thing to have someone from the Royal Family visiting here.”