THERE was a point during the Prince of Wales's visit to Glasgow yesterday when things became, well, a little animated.

It was midway through his tour of the House for an Art Lover in Bellahouston Park when the prince spotted two female students cheekily waving at him through a door window in the upstairs gallery. Prince Charles called their bluff by waving back to them. As the pair started to giggle, he opened the door and engaged them in conversation. ''What are you doing?'' he asked. ''We're spying on you,'' they replied.

Confirming that Penny Sharp, 31, and Naomi Foakes, 24, were art students, he asked them what they were studying. Painting perhaps? No, they said, digital animation.

''He gave us a look. At first, we thought that it had gone above his head,'' said Penny. ''But we said that there was architecture involved in the course and he liked that. He told us that he thought Britain was the best country in the world for animators.''

The visit to the Charles Rennie Mackintosh-designed mansion was more a lunchtime leisure pursuit than an official appointment for the prince. With his twin passion for architecture and gardens, he had personally asked for it to be included in yesterday's itinerary.

Professor Andy McMillan, former head of the Mackintosh School of Architecture in Glasgow, who steered the prince through the house and its treasures, said later: ''He certainly knows Mackintosh's work. He was extremely enthusiastic and liked the fact that the house had been built to Mackintosh's design and that it was functional.''

Touring Bellahouston's walled gardens, the prince encountered an old friend. Dorothy Clark, 84, from Newton Mearns, has been following the royal family since the days of King George and Queen Mary. She has lost count of the number of times she has met Prince Charles.

''He knows me well,'' she said. ''He sent me a lovely bouquet of flowers in March when I was in hospital. I thanked him for them today.''

Earlier in the day, the prince made a return visit to the Sighthill housing scheme in Glasgow, one of the most deprived estates in Scotland, which houses 1100 asylum seekers. A crowd of more than 100, some of them asylum seekers, turned out to greet him as he arrived by helicopter at the youth centre.

When he last visited the scheme two years ago, racial tension was at its height after the murder of Firsat Dag. This time, he was shown what efforts have been made to overcome Sighthill's bad image. He chatted with local children and then met young asylum seekers from the youth centre's art project, who performed a rap and dance routine about drugs, violence and the need for peace in communities.

One Congolese youngster, 14-year-old Arnold, who has been in Glasgow for two months, said: ''My rap was about peace in the world and I think that is something the prince would like to see.''

Kim, 14, from Kenya, who arrived in Glasgow last August, said: ''I was a little nervous about performing in front of the prince, but it went all very well apart from me forgetting a couple of lines.''

Lily Reilly, art development manager, said: ''It was absolutely fantastic and a great experience for the young people. He made it really easy for them and his visit has totally raised the profile of the project.''

Later in the day, Prince Charles visited Glasgow Central Mosque and opened the new Jamiat Community Centre.