STAFF at a roadside eatery got the surprise of their lives when Prince Harry paid an impromptu visit - and ordered a meal fit for a king.The young royal's visit to the Little Chef at the Barton Mills five-ways roundabout coincided with his training at the Stanta battleground, near Thetford, earlier this month.

STAFF at a roadside eatery got the surprise of their lives when Prince Harry paid an impromptu visit - and ordered a meal fit for a king.

The young royal's visit to the Little Chef at the Barton Mills five-ways roundabout coincided with his training at the Stanta battleground, near Thetford, earlier this month.

It has now emerged the third in line to the throne ordered Little Chef's Olympic Breakfast, which staff at the restaurant yesterday described as “huge”. They added the young prince, who was accompanied by a bodyguard and two fellow soldiers, ate everything on his plate before departing.

Jean Flack, who has worked at the restaurant for 23 years, served the combat-fatigue clad 22-year-old prince his breakfast.

Describing the moment she spotted her next customer, Mrs Flack, of Eriswell, said: “He looked like any other Army officer. At first I thought it was him or somebody who looked like him so I carried on as normal and took their order.

“Then I noticed there was another man watching me. I didn't say anything to Jon, the cook, because I did not want him to feel under pressure.

“I walked back and asked if everything was okay - I just treated him as a normal customer.”

She told how the jaws of some of the other customers dropped with astonishment when Prince Harry got up to visit the lavatory.

At no stage did Mrs Flack ask the prince who he was and she prevented the chef from whipping out his camera and taking a quick snap.

Fellow waitress Vonie Falco, however, could not bear the suspense of whether their diner was, or was not, Prince Harry. So, when the young royal got up to leave, she went straight up to him and asked him.

At first, the men escorting Prince Harry claimed he was not the prince. But when Mrs Falco told the red-haired young man she had met his mother, he turned around, shook her hand and said he was pleased to meet her.

Mrs Falco said: “He smiled and had a great big grin on his face.”

Chef Jon Stone, who served up his meal for a royal, said: “I did not know until afterwards. When I found out I was pretty chuffed - I was really happy about it.”

The entire visit happened just moments before the restaurant's manager Dave Sim walked in for work.

Mr Sim, who took over as manager just three months ago, said: “I missed the whole thing by a matter of minutes, he had left just before I arrived. It made everybody's day here though.”

A spokeswoman for Clarence House said: “I can't say if he was definitely there or not as we don't have details of every aspect of his personal life. But if local people say he was there, he was probably there.”

Prince Harry is not the first well-known face to have visited the Barton Mills Little Chef. Other famous walk-in diners include Robson Green, Eddie Large, the singer Helen Shapiro and a number of high profile footballers.

Known to his colleagues as Troop Commander Wales, the prince graduated from Sandhurst in April last year and currently holds the rank of Cornet in the Blues and Royals.

During his six-month tour in Iraq later this year, Prince Harry will lead a 12-strong troop in four Scimitar armoured reconnaissance vehicles.

laurence.cawley@eadt.co.uk

What Prince Harry had in his Olympic Breakfast:

Two rashers of bacon

A sausage

Two eggs

Mushrooms

Saute potatoes

Tomato

Baked beans

Toast