Prince William found his five-day visit to earthquake-affected New Zealand and flood-ravaged Australia to be an “emotionally raw” experience, one of his aides told The Telegraph.
The whistle-stop tour kicked off with the Prince visiting Christchurch in New Zealand, where he attended a memorial for more than 160 people who died in the quake there last month.
He then travelled to towns in far north Queensland to inspect the damage caused by category-five Cyclone Yasi and met the family of Jordan Rice, the Grantham boy swept to his death when flash floods hit Queensland.
After that he headed down to the Northern Victorian town of Kerang to visit areas badly affected by recent flooding and spoke to victims left homeless and without businesses.
“He has been very touched and humbled by what he has seen because these communities have lost everything and the way they have stuck together and looked after one another is genuinely a lesson to all of us,” the palace aide said.
“But everywhere he’s gone he has seen a lot of resilience and good humour.”
But there were also lighter moments on the tour.
In Kerang the prince was propositioned by 17 year old Tiana O’Brien. Carrying a sign that read: “I’ll be your princess.”
she shouted out: “Marry me!”, to which the Prince replied “Sorry, you’re too late.”
He also had a go at playing Aussie rules football in Murrabit where Melbourne Footballers taught the Prince how to kick a footy.
Many royal watchers have observed that Prince William’s trip to New Zealand and Australia has cemented his image as the “people’s prince” a reference to his late mother Princess Diana who was known as the “people’s princess”.
Prince William, 28, is due to marry Kate Middleton on April 29.
