James Caan, who visited the palace today to receive the honour, said it was ‘amazing’ to meet William and admitted he was thrilled to find out that the prince was a regular viewer.
Prince William, who was deputising for the Queen at the investiture ceremony, was making his final UK appearance ahead of his visit to China and Japan, with the Prince set to fly to Tokyo on Thursday.
The entrepreneur received a CBE for services to entrepreneurship and charitable services through his James Caan Foundation.
Speaking about his conversation with the Prince, Caan said: ‘He said to me “we miss you on Dragons’ Den. It is not clear who the ‘we’ refers to but it suggest that the Duke might enjoy the show with his wife the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate – unless of course it is the royal ‘we’.
Despite leaving the show five years ago, Business Matters columnist Caan revealed that, like William, he tunes in to Dragons’ Den regularly.
And the entrepreneur is looking forward to seeing the new judging line-up after panelists Duncan Bannatyne, Kelly Hoppen and Piers Linney all announced their departure from the show.
Speaking about the news that Michelle Mone will be filling one of the vacant chairs Caan added: ‘I think it’s good to change things and dragons. Once you have been on the show for a while it becomes bland because you can anticipate each other, any time a new dragon comes in it makes it more edgy.’
