Royal rugby fanatic may grab chance to see Lions in NZ

Are Prince Harry and his glamorous partner Meghan Markle set to join the British & Irish Lions’ travelling troupe of supporting fans?

About 25,000 footy fans are expected to fly in from the Northern Hemisphere to support the Lions during their New Zealand tour in June and July.

The announcement that Prince Harry will visit Singapore and Sydney next month has blown the chance wide open that the royal rugby fanatic could add to his AsiaPacific itinerary with a short jaunt to New Zealand.

When the Weekend Herald called Kensington Palace, a spokeswoman could not confirm or deny whether Prince Harry or older brother Prince William would make it to New Zealand for the Lions tour, simply saying there were no plans confirmed yet.

The brothers are huge rugby fans and are no strangers to supporting the Lions and England on the road — with Prince William travelling to New Zealand for part of the Lions’ 2005 tour.

It’s unlikely the rugby- mad Prince Harry will want to miss out on the biggest rugby event of the year as the Lions take on the world champion All Blacks when he’s just a three- hour flight from the action.

Prince Harry, whose romance with American actress Meghan Markle i s rumoured to be headed towards a marriage, will make his first visit to Singapore in June to feature in a charity event on June 5, the Sentebale Royal Salute Polo Cup. It is not known whether Markle will join him on the trip.

From there he will move on to Sydney for a jaunt which includes a celebration of Australia’s hosting of next year’s Invictus Games — the sporting event launched by Prince Harry to acknowledge ill and injured servicemen and women.

With the Lions tour running through to early July, the end of the Prince’s “mid- June” trip Downunder could easy lead into a date in Auckland or Wellington.

The last Saturday in June sees the All Blacks and Lions face off at Eden Park in the first of three tests, with fixtures at Westpac Stadium and the final test at Eden Park over the next two weekends.

Prince Harry’s described his first and only visit to New Zealand in May 2015 as “epic fun”.

“I really don’t think there is a highlight, it would be unfair to put a highlight on such an amazing trip. It has been fantastic,” he said.

“The welcome I’ve had has been typically Kiwi, I suppose. I couldn’t have asked for a better reception. The whole trip has been epic fun.”

I couldn’t have asked for a better reception . . . The whole trip has been epic fun. Prince Harry on his last NZ visit