SYDNEY // Prince Harry reported for duty with the Australian Army on Monday to begin an “authentic” experience featuring bush patrols and indigenous engagement, as he prepares to retire from the British military.
Hundreds of well-wishers turned out to see the 30-year-old prince at the National War Memorial in Canberra — the only scheduled public event during his visit — before he met with the head of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin.
Wearing a white dress uniform, Prince Harry reported for duty at Duntroon Military College, delivering a letter to Mr Binskin from Queen Elizabeth II in which she wrote her grandson would “benefit greatly from spending time with the Australian diggers”.
Prince Harry arrived to cheers from the crowd of some 1,000 people at the war memorial in Canberra where he laid a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and toured galleries on the First World War and Afghanistan.
He greeted the crowd outside despite drizzling rain.
As some chanted “Harry, Harry, Harry”, the prince made his way around the barricades, and spoke to a ginger-haired child with a poster reading “Redheads Rule”.
“He said that I was fabulous in making the sign and it’s awesome to be a redhead,” a delighted Ethan Toscan, 12, said.
“I’m over the moon — it’s just wow! I got to shake his hand!”
During his time Down Under, Captain Wales, as he is known in the British Army, will be embedded with Australian army units and regiments in Sydney, Darwin and Perth.
The prince, who has flown Apache helicopters for Britain, has reportedly also asked to fly choppers in Australia. Building on Prince Harry’s interest in veterans affairs, opportunities to meet wounded, injured and ill service personnel will also be provided while in Australia.
The Australian military said it hopes to provide the prince with “an authentic military experience in the Australian Army”.
The attachment to the Australian army comes as Prince Harry, a graduate from the elite Sandhurst military academy who served twice in Afghanistan, has announced his departure from the British Army.
“After a decade of service, moving on from the army has been a really tough decision,” he said last month, revealing he will quit in June.
“The experiences I have had over the last 10 years will stay with me for the rest of my life. For that I will always be hugely grateful.”
* Agence France-Presse