The good looking royal and future King was the most photographed celebrity of his time and a men's fashion icon.

So it's no surprise there was a great deal of excitement in Australia when the prince's 1920 tour was announced.

He would visit on behalf of his father King George V, to officially thank the Australian people for their sacrifices and contributions made during the First World War.

The 26-year-old prince arrived in Australia in May 1920 for a three month tour that would see him visit more than 100 regional and urban destinations on a 14,000-kilometre round trip.

Wherever he went, public holidays were declared, receptions and balls were held, memorial stones were laid and crowds lined streets to catch a glimpse of him.

The prince had served in the war himself, and shouts of 'Digger' - one of the highest compliments that could be given at the time - accompanied him throughout his visit.

Like almost every other community in Australia, the folk of Orange were keen to have a visit from their future King, and the local council did what they could to make it happen.

In February 1920 - two months prior to the prince's arrival in Australia - Orange's newly elected council, headed by mayor George Treweeke, had written to the state member for Orange, The Hon. JCL Fitzpatrick, asking him to "use his best endeavours to secure a visit to Orange of the Prince of Wales."

However as the weeks rolled by on the prince's visit, it became apparent that a visit to Orange would not be on the cards.

Then in August, just as the prince was wrapping up his tour of the country, some news came through to Mayor Treeweke.

After a stint in Western NSW - where had had spent time in remote towns like Nyngan and Coonamble - the prince was to take the royal train back to Sydney.

The good news was that on August 13, the train would stop in Orange and the prince would alight.

The not-so-good news was that he would not leave the station precinct, and he would be in the city for a grand total of 20 minutes.

The Mayor immediately called a meeting with his fellow Alderman.

There was disappointment that Bathurst - where the prince would alight after Orange - had been granted a longer timeslot.

An article from The Leader, dated August 6, 1920, reads: "Those is attendance (at the meeting) generally agreed that Orange should have been given more than 20 minutes, especially as Bathurst had been given 80 minutes.

"One Alderman remarked that an extension should be secured to allow the prince to see the "up-to-dateness" of Orange, and then on his visit to Bathurst he would see what distinctions there were and he would come to the conclusion after his 80 minutes stay there that he should have been given two days stay in Orange."

With such a large crowd expected, there was also concern that "confusion would prevail" if the prince's reception was confined to the Orange station precinct.

Eventually, the Alderman decided to write the State Organiser and request a variation to the programme. They wanted the prince to leave the station precinct and be driven up Summer Street to the Soldiers memorial, then return by the same route. Red Cross workers, school children and VADs would line the street. The whole exercise would still take 20 minutes.

The State Organiser replied, saying the programme could not be changed.

The Mayor tried again, sending the following telegram: "Unless programme Prince's reception Orange altered as requested confusion inevitable through ten thousand population crushing see Prince. Local suggestion ensures order, enabling all citizens and children fittingly greet His Royal Highness. No extra time involved."

The Mayor telephoned the royal party when they were in Coonamble and was lead to believe that the proposed plan would go ahead.

However, closer to the royal train's arrival, he received another telegram, telling him the prince would by no means leave the station precinct.

On August 13, 1920, the day of the Prince's arrival, it was a typically chilly day: "On the way to Orange the Prince saw the snow-capped Canobolas. It was a fine sight," read a report from the Sydney Morning Herald.

The prince stepped off the train at about 3pm in Orange where "Wintry conditions prevailed," according to another report in the The Daily Telegraph.

"The Prince shivered as he exchanged greetings with he Mayor Treweeke and Sir Neville Howse VC," it read.

The station precinct was packed with people, with onlookers climbing onto the roof to get a better view of the proceedings. However the expected crowd of 10,000 was closer to 5000 according to a report in The Argus.

During his whirlwind visit the prince met with dignitaries, as well as a man named Mr George Joseph Stewart, 86, who, according to the Daily Telegraph report "has lived in Orange for half a century or more. He is a living testament to the salubrious climate of that western town."

After 20 minutes it was all over. The prince was back on board and the royal train departed.

The next stop was Blayney, where according to a Sydney Morning Herald report " it was misty and the road damp" but nevertheless the prince was "greeted by thousands with thunderous applause.

He later arrived in Bathurst, where a huge welcome arch was constructed for his arrival and "he was driven through the principal streets, ablaze with life and colour.. as crowds of at least 15,000 of his future subjects cheered frantically."

The Mayor of Orange copped some criticism after the prince's visit.

There was disappointment, not only because the prince had not left the station precinct, but because unlike Bathurst, Orange had failed to put up any decorations.

P Boardman, a member of the Chamber of Commerce, described it as the most "dead fish welcome" he had ever seen.

"Everybody was ashamed of it," he said.

The Mayor defended the reception, saying he had done all he could to get the prince to leave the station precinct and drive through town. He said there were no decorations because the entire reception was held on railway property, and there was an express wish that there be no decorations.

But Boardman was not pleased.

The Sydney papers, he said, only had a few lines about the Orange visit, whilst there "were inches about Dubbo and Bathurst."

He said he "would guarantee the prince would forget Orange more quickly than any other place he'd been in and it should be seen that a similar state of affairs would never happen again."

The president Mr Kearney went on to complain that the chamber had not been consulted or invited to attend, and "he was not aware who was responsible for that discourtesy."

A few weeks later, the prince left Australia.

He pledged to 'come back whenever I can' and to serve Australia 'truly all his life', but the King-to-be would never return.

In 1936, he briefly took the throne, but abdicated later that year to marry American divorcee Wallace Simpson.

Orange would have to wait another 50 years for the next royal visit.

When Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip visited in 1970 they again arrived by train, but this time the royal visit was mush more substantial.

The Queen planted a tree in Robertson Park, visited the Email refrigerator factory in Edward Street, and waved at thousands of admirers from a motorcade which travelled up Summer Street.

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