PRINCE CHARMING
AUSTRALIA GOES WILD FOR HARRY
HE might only be third in line for the throne, but laughing Prince Harry got the message when he went walkabout in Australia yesterday.
Twelve- year- old Ethan Toscan held up a giant placard saying “Red Heads RULE!”.
As soon as Harry spotted it, he strolled over and shared a “high fi ve” with the excited youngster.
Ethan, who like the soldier prince has ginger hair, revealed later: “He said that I was fabulous in making the sign and it’s awesome to be a redhead.”
The crowd took 30- year- old Harry, resplendent in a striking tropical military uniform, to their hearts as he visited the capital Canberra before taking up a posting with the Australian army.
But he went a little coy when one young admirer wanted him to star in a selfi e picture.
“Selfi es are bad,” he joked, somewhat tongue in cheek. “No, I hate selfi es. Seriously, you need to get out of it. I know you’re young, but selfi es are bad.”
In reality, the prince has actually photo- bombed selfi es himself in the past.
During last summer’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, he gave a cheeky thumbs’ up sign as he sat in the background of the New Zealand rugby sevens’ team selfi e.
Harry, known on duty as Captain Wales, braved light rain to have a giggle with the hundreds of wellwishers who welcomed him.
But later he turned serious to lay a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Australian War Memorial.
The prince has already announced plans to leave the British Army in June, and his four weeks learning how the Australian forces operate will be one of his last missions. Last night he reported to Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin, Australia’s Defence Force chief.
He also delivered a letter from the Queen saying it was appropriate that he should visit as the Allies mark the 100th anniversary of joint campaigns in the First World War.
His father Prince Charles, 66, will join him at a special ceremony to mark the centenary of the ill- fated Gallipoli invasion, when Australian and New Zealand forces, known as the Anzacs, fought bravely side by side with British troops in Turkey.
While in Australia Harry, a trained Apache helicopter pilot and veteran of two tours of Afghanistan, will join Norforce, an army unit made up largely of Aboriginal soldiers whose role is reconnaissance, observation and the collection of military intelligence. He will go on to be embedded with a number of Australian army units and regiments in the cities of Darwin, Sydney and Perth.
That will include a stint with a squadron based in Sydney and work with the elite Special Air Service Regiment.
PRINCE HARRY has long been one of the most popular royals and, helped by his military service, he has matured into an excellent ambassador for both his family and his country. It is little wonder that in Australia he has been greeted with the same affection as his brother, sister- inlaw and nephew were last year.