Wednesday 13 May 2015

A familiar face for Harry

Prince Harry got a reminder of home on his latest stop on his tour of New Zealand. In fact, it was a double memo. And one brought a smile to his face while the other left him surprised but happy. It was all about familiar faces.


Prince Harry poses next to a photo of his grandmother, the Queen, during his day in Christchurch
(photo Governor General of New Zealand Twitter)

During a day in Christchurch the prince hopped on a tram with the country's Prime Minister, John Key, now officially the political king of great photos - the man has given us prince with puppy and prince on a bus in the space of forty eight hours. And as they made their way through the tram, Harry spotted a photo of the Queen - granny to him - and a huge smile appeared across his face. He happily stood next to it for a photo.


The prince and the Prime Minister were on the tram to see parts of the city devastated by the 2011 earthquake which left 185 people dead. Their journey ended at an exhibition called Quake City which lays out for visitors the impact, consequences and aftermath of the disaster.


Prince Harry pedals for power at the Quake City Exhibition - one of several community projects set up in the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake that the royal visitor learned about
(photo Kensington Palace Instagram)

And it was at the exhibition stop on a whirlwind day that Harry saw another familiar face. In the front row of one of the crowds that had turned out to see him was Vicky McBratney who, seventeen years ago, helped look after Harry at one of the toughest times of his life. Mrs McBratney was an assistant matron at Ludgrove School which Harry attended between 1992 and 1998. And she started her job in September 1997, just as the young prince was heading back following the death of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.


Harry looked surprised but delighted to see his former matron, gave her a peck on the cheek and chatted happily to her. She had waited two hours to see him and said she was just glad he remembered her. She told reporters later that Harry was a lovely man and he looked just as delighted with their encounter.


The rest of the day was spent with students at the University of Christchurch who formed the Student Volunteer Army after the earthquake which hit their city and who now do community work and campaign for a national service day where everyone would spend twenty four hours giving back to their local area. Harry gave his backing to the plan and said he'd love to see it take off everywhere.

 

And there was just time for a few more doses of the Harry Effect as he sat in a wheelbarrow (that's how the students used to hold their meetings), did a bit of gardening and then distributed cupcakes made by the SVA to waiting crowds.



More charm, more laughs, another hugely successful day for the prince, And a reminder that, even thousands of miles from home, there are always friendly faces looking out for you.

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