Prince Harry Arrives in Australia, Visits War Memorial

  April 5, 2015 at 9:26 pm by

Prince Harry landed in Australia several hours ago to begin his four-week secondment with the Australian Army. He landed in Sydney on a commercial flight from London at around 5am local time.

In his military fatigues, the Prince was transferred to a RAAF jet to make the short trip down to Canberra where he undertook the only official engagement during his time in Australia. A quick wardrobe change saw Harry arrive at the Australian War Memorial in his dress whites. The Prince was greeted by Governor-General Peter Cosgrove, the Director of the War Memorial Brendan Nelson, and Rear Admiral Ken Doolan.

He laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and placed a poppy in the Roll of Honour before signing the Memorial guest book. Dr Nelson presented Prince Harry with several gifts, including a commemorative box made of pine and jarrah (the Prince called the story of the Lone Pine “incredible”), commemorative medals marking the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings and a Spirit of Anzac book and CD. Harry was then shown two of the Memorial’s galleries, the ones focusing on World War One and the Afghan War.

Despite running about 15 minutes behind schedule, Prince Harry spent 15-20 minutes shaking hands and chatting with the crowd of at least 500 that had gathered since the early hours of the morning in the drizzly weather at the entrance to the Memorial. One particular young boy, bearing a painted sign stating ‘Red Heads Rule’, quickly caught the Prince’s attention as he rushed around the square to greet as many people as he could.

It was then on to Duntroon House, where Harry presented himself to the Chief of ­Defence Mark Binskin to officially report for duty.

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