This trip attracted a great deal of international attention, with TV crews present from four of the US TV networks — ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN — and Australia’s Channel 9. On a visit to a live firing range yesterday he offered a reminder of the prickly relationship that he and his brother have with photographers as a result of the circumstances surrounding their mother’s death and their own experiences. Turning to the media pack he made a (sort of) joke, inviting volunteers for target practice: “Anyone with a camera want to stand the other end?” A veteran of many royal tours says: “William feels the same way about the press but he deals with it better.”
Overall, though, as the Prince concludes the jubilee part of his trip and prepares to fly on to Brazil, he will feel pleased that this crucial leg of his travels has been well received. When it was suggested that it had gone surprisingly well a royal source countered: “I don’t think it is a surprise. Harry is a very charismatic guy who has enormous capacity to be appropriate in whatever situation. He has never done a period of royal engagements as intense as this and you never know how he is going to fare in that environment, but I don’t think any of us felt that he would put a foot wrong.
“He has got a great heart and great emotional intelligence and as a consequence anyone who works with him is always confident that he will excel in any situation in public.”