KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia was making its first appearance at what was then known as the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica in 1966 and Datuk M. Rajamani made that fact known to the visiting Prince Charles in a brief encounter.
"It was 51 years ago, so I can't really recall the rest of the conversation. But that first part when he greeted me, I will always remember," said Rajamani, 74.
It was at the Games Village and Rajamani, then 23, had gone down to the common room to mingle with other athletes, recalling that she was chatting with three Singaporean swimmers when they were alerted that the Prince of Wales was dropping by for a visit.
"Are you from India?" Rajamani recalled Charles asking her. "I stood up straight and replied.
"No, Your Highness, I am from Malaysia."
Rajamani, who competed in the 400m and 800m track and field events in Kingston that year, said she was taken aback by the question but did not take it as an insult.
"I understood where he was coming from to a certain extent. Yes, I am Indian. But I am proudly from Malaysia," said Rajamani.
Rajamani ended her competition in the preliminaries in Kingston, before creating history as the first Malaysian woman to win an Asian Games gold medal when she won the 400m in Bangkok that December.
These days, Rajamani spends her times at service to the National Athletes' Welfare Foundation (Yakeb) and with her grandchildren.
"A lot of my time is also devoted to my spiritual obligations, doing my prayers," said Rajamani, the 1966 Sportswoman of the Year who has also met three other British royals - the Duke of Edinburgh Prince Phillip, as well as Princesses Margaret and Anne.