Prince Harry is to make his first official visit to the United States according to news reports. While there's been no confirmation from Clarence House sources say the 24-year-old is to spend several days in the country carrying out a series of charity engagements. It will be his first foreign tour in an official capacity.
One of the most popular members of the royal family, Harry has a huge fan base in America. Recent US visits by the Queen and Prince Philip stopped traffic, and a Stateside trip by the newly-single - and highly eligible - flame-haired royal is likely to prompt the kind of reception usually reserved for pop stars.
Currently training to become an attack helicopter pilot with the Army Air Corps in Lincolnshire, Harry will be given special leave for the visit. The driving force behind the trip is understood to be the chance to raise funds for Sentebale, the charity the soldier prince set up in memory of his late mother, Princess Diana, which cares for children in the African country of Lesotho.
While details of the tour are still being worked out, the Daily Mail reports Harry is expected to participate in a charity polo match in New York on May 30. Organisers of the event - one in a series to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Big Apple - have confirmed funds raised from the event will go to American Friends of Sentebale.
Also in the frame for the third-in-line to the throne are visits to several charity projects in New York plus a trip to Ground Zero to pay his respects to the victims of September 11.
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