Prince Harry Back In U.S.

Michelle Obama welcomed Prince Harry to her home after his arrival in the U.S.

Prince Harry said his mother Diana, Princess of Wales, would be ‘proud’ of his work supporting an anti-landmine charity she championed.

Harry’s comments came at the start of his week-long U.S. tour where he has already received a warm welcome from First Lady Michelle Obama and was greeted by screaming female admirers when he opened an exhibition, on Washington’s Capitol Hill, promoting the work of the anti-landmine charity the Halo Trust.

The seven-day visit is the Prince’s first trip to America since he caused outrage by being photographed naked during a weekend break in Las Vegas last year.

Harry gave a speech in support of the Halo Trust at a British embassy reception attended by US policy-makers, supporters of the anti-landmine charity and potential donors.

Diana famously highlighted the work of the charity when she was pictured wearing a face mask and protective clothing during a visit to a minefield being cleared by the trust in Angola in 1997.

The royal, who is patron of the trust’s 25th anniversary appeal, told the guests: ‘My mother, who believed passionately in this cause, would be proud of my association with Halo.
‘In her special way, she adopted it as her own. She would join me – along with all of you, I’m sure – in praising Halo for the amazing work that it has done over the past quarter century, and in hoping that one day soon its humanitarian work will be done.’

He added: ‘At any one time, Halo has seven thousand de-miners in the field, striving to protect people, and banish the fear that pervades the lives of millions around the world.

‘In Sri Lanka, Mozambique, Kosovo, in Somalia, Georgia and Armenia, the threat of landmines could be eradicated in the next five years, if funding can be sustained.

‘If it were stepped up, in the next 10 years, countries like Cambodia, Angola, Colombia, Afghanistan, Burma and even Zimbabwe might have their landmine crises eliminated for good.’

Michelle Obama beat hundreds of adoring women to get closest to Prince Harry after Britain’s most eligible bachelor joined her at the White House at the start of his week-long U.S. tour.

The First Lady welcomed the 28-year-old prince to her home on Thursday afternoon for a reception in honor of military mothers and their children after he caused a stir in Washington D.C.

As well as meeting Sen. John McCain at Capitol Hill, he was welcomed by a bevvy of grinning female staffers – who were promptly ushered back inside by police, according to their colleagues’ tweets.

‘If all the women on Capitol Hill were dust bunnies, #princeharry would be a Dyson Vacuum. Every woman is gone. Every. Single. One,’ Chris Mickey tweeted before the royal’s arrival.

When the women were asked to leave, sparking ‘grumpy faces’ according to further tweets, they swiftly found other balconies over which to peer at the prince

At his last event of the day, Harry entertained US policy makers and wealthy donors at a British embassy reception.

Harry chatted with 200 guests at the champagne bash  hosted by British ambassador Sir Peter Westmacott and the HALO Trust anti-landmines charity before a dinner for 37 key influential donors and decision-makers.

In the sweltering humidity, the Prince repeatedly mopped his brow as he stood in a receiving line to greet each guest before working the room.

Among them were numerous American politicians, and President Obama’s deputy national security adviser Anthony Blinken.

Guy Willoughby, director of the Halo Trust, praised Harry’s determination to continue his mother’s work.

‘In some ways he has more fervour even than Princess Diana because he has seen so many British and other troops losing their legs on duty in places like Afghanistan,’ Mr Willoughby said.

‘So in many ways it’s a more personal cause for him. It goes with his work for Walking With the Wounded and Help for Heroes.’

Mr Willoughby said he was confident given more funds countries such as Kosovo, Sri Lanka, and Mozambique could be landmine-free within five years.

Other such as Afghanistan and Angola could be rid of the danger to civilians within 10 years, he said.

The British ambassador said Harry was helping to wave the flag for Britain and shine the spotlight on the cause.

Though his day ended on a serious note in gentile surroundings, it did not start that was as close to 500 screaming girls gave Harry a pop star reception when he arrived at the Russell Senate Office building on Capitol Hill.

But Harry barely glanced at them so keen was he to see the exhibition that awaited him in the company of former presidential candidate McCain.

Happy Carlock, 20, an intern from Texas said: ‘You could hear hearts breaking all over the room when he left. He is so cute, better than I expected.’

Senator McCain said: ‘He was kind of embarrassed [by the screaming], I think a normal reaction.’

‘I’m sure it’s not the first time he has had that experience, but in all the years I’ve been coming here I’ve never seen such an unbalanced gender gap.

Sen McCain, a former fighter pilot who was held hostage after being shot down in Vietnam, added: ‘He knew I had been shot down and I told him he was probably a much better pilot than me because he hadn’t been shot down.’

The staffers were not the only ones who took to Twitter in light of Harry’s trip, with many excited women voicing their excitement at welcoming the British prince.

‘My Prince Harry senses are tingling,’ one wrote, while another added: ‘Happy that the world’s most eligible bachelor is in the good ol’ US of A.’

Harry’s visit comes as Queen Elizabeth II, his grandmother, has cut back on her official duties, turning to her son Charles and grandsons, WIlliam and Harry, to step in in her place.

And Harry apparently makes the most of his jaunts abroad; last year he was a hit during his tour of the Caribbean and Latin America – and he was famously pictured playing pool in the nude in a Las Vegas hotel.

But with a jam-packed itinerary ahead of him, it is uncertain whether Harry will have time for a repeat.

Following the visit to Capitol Hill, Harry joined First Lady Michelle Obama at a charity event held in honor of military mothers and their children.

The President himself was out of town on business, but his wife couldn’t hide her delight at being able to welcome British royalty to the seat of power.

It was a remarkable moment for the prince, who has long struggled to shake off his playboy image, and signals a new, more mature role for

Harry, just days after his grandmother the Queen announced she was scaling back the extent of her own official travel.

The royal heart-throb’s attendance had been kept a secret from the 170 guests in advance and made his way to the presidential home in an extensive convoy as the youngsters enjoyed afternoon tea.

Prince Harry was greeted with loud applause when he walked into the tea party in the East Room of the White House with Michelle Obama.

‘Well, surprise!’ said the First Lady, to more cheers. ‘It is an honour to welcome Prince Harry to the White House today. As you all may know, Prince Harry is a captain in the Army Air Corps in the British Armed Forces.’

Then, after more cheers at that reference to Harry’s military role, she went on: ‘In January he returned from his second deployment to Afghanistan.

‘He has spent much of his time supporting our wounded warriors and the families of our fallen. This weekend he will be attending the 4th Annual Warrior Games at Colorado Springs.

‘We are absolutely thrilled he could be with us today. He just arrived in DC. He only has a limited time here. But when he heard about this tea and all of you, he wanted to be here to personally thank you for all your service.’

Afterwards Prince Harry, accompanied by Mrs Obama and Dr Biden, went into the Blue Room to meet all the families one by one.

Harry bent down to talk to the children and posed while Jill Biden, the Vice President’s wife, took photographs on the children’s camera phones.

He pulled faces and joked with the children as he saw the gifts they had made for their mothers prompting Michelle Obama to joke that the parents were getting ‘a couple of minutes of free babysitting’.

In the course of his visit that will take Harry of Wales from coast to coast, the high-born guest will meet with wounded veterans, take part in charity events benefiting inner-city youths and promote British business and tourism.