LONDON - Prince Charles and his wife Camilla Parker-Bowles visited a massive temple in northwest London Wednesday to celebrate Holi with all the colour, music and dance of the festival, but were spared being doused in colour themselves.

The royal couple visited the Swaminarayan temple in Neasden, where they saw children throw coloured powder and water at each other.

Charles, the heir apparent to the British throne, and his wife watched about a dozen students dressed in white robes splattering each other with brightly coloured dyes and waters as Indian music was played.

The celebration was held in the nearby Neasden school’s sports hall in front of hundreds of other pupils and dignitaries from the London borough of Brent.

The couple joined in the event but were spared being covered in coloured dyes and instead threw flower petals over the powder-covered youngsters once their display was over.

Earlier, Charles and Camilla toured classrooms at the school and met three and four-year-olds from a nursery class.