CANNES, France -- Britain's Prince Charles and Princess Diana made a show-stopping visit Friday to the 40th Cannes film festival and declared themselves big movie fans.
The royal couple flew in to lend support to the British film industry, and the heir to the throne told reporters unabashedly he hoped his country will be winning many more prizes at Cannes, the world's No. 1 film festival.
Speaking alternately in French and English, Charles said, 'My wife and I have heard so much about Cannes that it's a great pleasure to see it for ourselves.
'Since we both greatly enjoy films, we look forward to attending a performance this evening and meeting film-makers who take risks with such large amounts of money,' he said.
The royal couple planned to attend the screening of Lindsay Anderson's film 'The Whales of August' and the tribute paid to Sir Alec Guinness by the British Film Industry at a banquet for 700.
'The Whales of August' stars veterans Bette Davis, Lillian Gish, Vincent Price and Ann Sothern and critics described it as a cinemagraphic treat. The prince and princess were to meet members of the cast before the showing.
Speeches at the Guinness banquet were to be delivered by Briton David Puttnam, now chief of Paramount pictures, actor and director Peter Ustinov, Prince Charles and Alec Guinness himself.
There was tight security surrounding the visit and some festival areas were sealed off temporarily, causing even greater traffic jams than usual.
The first stop for the royal couple was the town hall where they made a two-minute appearance on the balcony to wave to a crowd of hundreds gathered below in the port of this swank Mediterranean resort.
'She's beautiful. It was worthwhile to come see them,' local resident Alexandra Cochard said of the princess at town hall. 'She's not like that Liz Taylor, who made us wait for 30 minutes to see her the other night when she attended a screening at the festival.'
The couple also visited stands in the vast film market in the basement of the beachfront festival palace where private and national film companies do big business during the annual two-week event.
Afterward, they went up the beachfront to the Miramar Hotel, which has been transformed into a 'British Pavilion' representing the interests of the national film industry.
The pavilion is privately funded and includes a computerized information bureau, service area for small British companies to conduct business, a media center and a bar and sidewalk cafe.
