Prince Harry Arrives In Canberra For 4-Week Duty With Australian Army

Britain’s Prince Harry arrived in Canberra on Monday to spend four weeks with the Australian army during which he will participate in bush patrols and other military activities in Sydney, Darwin and Perth.

Before officially reporting for duty to Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin, the chief of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), the 30-year-old prince met hundreds of his well-wishers at the National War Memorial in Canberra, and laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier, BBC reported.

“He is expected to take part in a range of unit-based activities and training exercises,” the Australian Defence Force said in a statement last week. These will include urban training exercises, regional bush patrols, flight simulation and aviation activities, joint fire exercises and indigenous engagements activities.

The prince, who has the experience of flying Apache helicopters for the Britain military, has been asked by the Australian authority to fly choppers in the country. However, the exact schedule of his flight has not been disclosed, the Agence France-Presse reported.

According to the Australian army, it will try to provide the prince with “an authentic military experience in the Australian Army that builds on his previous experience with coalition forces and complements his work with wounded, injured and ill service personnel.”

The prince also presented a letter from the Queen, which said that her grandson would “benefit greatly” from spending time with the Australian army, BBC reported.

“I am delighted that the long and enduring association between the Australian and British armies will be joined by the military secondment of my grandson, Prince Harry,” the Queen wrote in the letter.

Prince Harry, who is a graduate from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, had served twice in Afghanistan. He is known as Captain Wales in the British Army and will retire from the military in June after 10 years of service.

“After a decade of service, moving on from the army has been a really tough decision,” he had said in a statement last month. “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.”