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Post by Admin on Apr 25, 2015 21:16:29 GMT
Prince Harry made a 91-year-old's day when he swooped in for a cheeky peck on the cheek at a remembrance service. The 30-year-old royal turned on the charm in Turkey as he met women widowed by the battle of Gallipoli. He told the group of 10 widowers whose husbands paid the ultimate sacrifice during the ill-fated invasion military campaign: "The age gap must have been quite something. You look as if you're in your thirties now."  He then delighted 91-year-old Ruth Littler by giving her a peck on the cheek in return for an iconic Akubra hat worn by the group. Afterwards she joked "I'll never wash it off." Mrs Littler, the second wife of Lieutenant Guy Littler who won the Military Cross in Flanders, said the remembrance event marking the invasion's centenary was a fitting tribute for her husband and others killed. "He served for King and country - that's what it was all about," she said. "So all this would have meant a lot to him.'  The meeting was part of a series of events held to commemorate Anzac Day remembering Commonwealth troops killed 100 years ago at Gallipoli in one of the most emblematic campaigns of World War I. Harry, who was with his dad Prince Charles for the event, also visited the main Australian war cemetery on the peninsula at Lone Pine - the scene of horrendous fighting in 1915.  At a memorial for Australians, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said 800 of his countrymen died here and 1,500 were wounded. The Turkish casualty list was three times worse. Some 8,000 Australians made the long trip from the home country to be at the cemetery, which now 100 years on, is serene and beautifully-kept. It still boasts the single tree which gave its name, although it is leaning and showing signs of ageing. |
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Post by Admin on May 7, 2015 20:54:36 GMT
Thousands have bid Prince Harry farewell as his Australian army secondment ends - including a woman who asked him to marry her. Victoria McRae donned a plastic crown and popped the question before surprising the prince with a kiss at a Sydney Opera House event.  He responded with a coy smile and told his admirer that he would have to think about it. Prince Harry has spent the last month with army units in Perth and Sydney. It is not the first marriage proposal he has received, but he has yet to accept any offers from his eager fans. Speaking later at a function at Macquarie University in Sydney, the prince said he had had a "fantastic" time in Australia. "I never expected that many people to turn out [at the Opera House] ... I got more than one kiss," he added. The event was his last official engagement in the country.  Part of the prince's secondment was spent with the North-West Mobile Force (Norforce) - the mostly indigenous unit which patrols northern Australia. "I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have worked with these guys," he told local media, referring to members of the Australian Defence Force.  |
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Post by Admin on May 9, 2015 21:06:33 GMT
Stalking buildings with an assault rifle, abseiling from helicopters and raiding ships with a team of navy divers – this is Prince Harry as you rarely seen him. These dramatic photographs show Captain Wales on a series of counter-terrorism exercises during his month-long embed with the Australian military.  During his time Down Under, Harry trained in the country's arid north in bush survival skills, including how to source food and water. The 30-year-old also spent time flying helicopters, training with SAS commandos and taking part in drills with Royal Australian Navy Clearance Divers. Harry, who is due to quit the British Army in June, said: 'All it's done has made me not want to finish my military career to be honest with you.'   He added: 'It has been fantastic. I have been so well looked after.' Prince Harry admitted yesterday it will be hard to leave Australia after greeting thousands of well-wishers near Sydney's Opera House with 'His Royal Hotness' banners out in force and one woman asking him to marry her.   But it will mean he gets the chance to finally meet his new niece, Princess Charlotte, whose birth he missed earlier this month. The birth bumped him down to fifth in line to the throne, but he was all smiles on the glorious Sydney day, bidding farewell to Australia as his deployment Down Under comes to a close. 'I'm looking forward to meeting her – she's beautiful,' he said in a rare royal press conference when asked about the new addition to the family of his brother Prince William and wife Kate. |
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Post by Admin on May 12, 2015 21:01:45 GMT
While greeting well-wishers in New Zealand on Tuesday, Prince Harry noticed a familiar face in the crowd. The prince, 30, reached over to hug his former teacher Vicki McBratney, whom he hasn't seen in 18 years. "My goodness, I remember you," Harry said, according to The Telegraph. "Long time no see."  McBratney and Harry became close after bonding over the loss of their mothers while the prince attended the Ludgrove School in Wokingham, England. McBratney's first day on the job was the day of Princess Diana's funeral. "Nice to see you, how are you?" Harry greeted McBratney, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. "Nice to see you, are you all right?" He then turned to McBratney's three kids – Hayden, 11, Summer, 10, and Sienna, 8 – and asked, "Are these all yours?" before shaking each of their hands. McBratney told reporters that she was "happy he recognized me." "I'm so glad the kids met him," she said. "And he remembered me, which was really nice."  McBratney had arrived two hours before, nervously waiting for her chance to see the "cheeky, funny boy" she had once doted on. In 1997 during the start of her tenure at Ludgrove School in Wokingham, England, she and Harry had grown close, bonding over late night chats and hot chocolates and mourning the loss of their mothers. McBratney's first day on the job was Princess Diana's funeral.  Since then she has married - Andy McBratney, a fellow employee at Ludgrove - and moved to Christchurch to settle and have children. This was all news to Harry, who spotted Hayden, 11, Summer, 10, and Sienna, 8, and asked "Are these all yours?" He then shook the hand of each of her children, and husband Andy.  McBratney then handed the fifth in line to the throne photos she has kept close by for 18 years. While Harry was apprehensive to see what had been captured on camera, groaning an "Oh no...", as he checked the photos, it was soon replaced with happy nostalgia. "They are awesome, there's Walter! I love that," he said. |
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Post by Admin on May 13, 2015 20:55:37 GMT
Prince Harry performed a haka, a traditional dance and war chant native to New Zealand’s Maori people, with soldiers at the Linton Military Camp, a major military base near Palmerston North on Wednesday. AFP reports that the royal, decked out in military fatigues, only had about 20 minutes to learn the moves—which involve a lot of foot stamping and chest grabbing. The All Blacks rugby team can usually be seen doing the ancestral tribute before a match.  On past trips, Prince Harry has performed a traditional Lesotho dance with deaf children in South Africa, boogied down to Bob Marley’s “One Love” in Jamaica in support of the Rise Life charity, and grooved to Katy Perry’s “Firework” with children in Chile who have mental and physical disabilities.  Prince Harry said this week that he'd "love to have kids right now." And indeed, he's clearly besotted with youngsters – as you can see in this adorable new photo from his New Zealand trip. "Prince Harry gets in to a shouting match with a baby on a walkabout in #Christchurch," the royal photographer Tim Rooke wrote in captioning the photo on Twitter. It was then posted to the official Kensington Palace Twitter account shortly thereafter. |
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