British royals charm drought-stricken Australian town

 

Britain's Prince Harry interacts with Luke Vincent, 5, after arriving at Dubbo airport, Dubbo, Australia October 17, 2018. REUTERS/Phil Noble
 

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - A 5-year-old boy tugged Prince Harry's red beard and scored big hugs from the British royal and his wife, Meghan, after they touched down on Wednesday in the rural Australian city of Dubbo, where farmers are struggling with drought.

 

Harry and Meghan delighted a long line of school children at the airport in Dubbo, about 300 km (185 miles) northwest of Sydney, shaking hands and posing for selfies.

 

Meghan, who is expecting the royal couple's first child in the northern spring, wore skinny black jeans, a white shirt, long gray jacket and black boots with her hair tied back in a pony tail.

 

But it was Luke Vincent, who has Down Syndrome and adores Santa Claus, who stole the show, throwing his arms around Meghan when she knelt down to greet him and grabbing Harry's beard when the prince hugged the boy.

 

Prince Harry and Meghan are on their first international tour since marrying in May and are traveling to Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific islands of Fiji and Tonga.

 

They had a packed schedule on day two of their Australian visit, visiting the Royal Flying Doctors Service, then heading to a drought-hit farm and then a picnic at a park in the center of Dubbo.

 

The Royal Flying Doctors Service was anointed as "royal" in 1955 when Queen Elizabeth, Harry's grandmother, came to Australia.

 

Their trip coincides with the Invictus Games in Sydney from Oct. 20-27. The games, founded by Harry, are an international paralympic-style event for wounded military veterans.

 

(Reporting by Sonali Paul; Editing by Paul Tait)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-10-17

so, did the charming work? Or, still no rain?

6 minutes ago, klauskunkel said:

so, did the charming work? Or, still no rain?

It rained

Cheap at half the price. If you're gonna hav a ceremonial figurehead it might as well be an hereditary one. At least they have sense enough to bring in new blood.

not quite the reign they were hoping for, but what the hay

Good for them and I think he is pretty down to earth for a royal.

Very much like his mother

9 minutes ago, Russell17au said:

Very much like his mother

i never noticed his mother with a beard.????

3 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

i never noticed his mother with a beard.????

You know what I mean. Possums

18 minutes ago, Russell17au said:

You know what I mean. Possums

????

I am just back from a trip around Oz. Literally,  around the coast and across NT. I have never seen such a desolate place, and I fully understand why they all live in the South-east. 
 

I rather doubt that whatever "drought" the happy couple saw is anything other than normal. What a load of bs.

Harry and William plus their photogenic wives are OK imo and a breath of fresh air to the UK royal family, plus bring in way more pounds in tourisms etc. to the UK than they cost/spend. There will always be the haters but the UK is a democracy (despite the EU hating that fact) and a lot of people seem to still like this sort of stuff plus has we have seen a resurgence of its popularity in recent years. If they ever become unpopular then that's a different matter but at the moment that's not the case, so fine, despite me being generally ambivalent about it all in general. Getting to a point though, in this vanity controlled world, that you can barely open a news site without them/vain celebs too being all over it or people trying to be online stars or flashing their flesh in an attempt to get their 15 minutes. How shallow and superficial it has all become...a correction in one form or another will eventually come.

59 minutes ago, Grusa said:

I am just back from a trip around Oz. Literally,  around the coast and across NT. I have never seen such a desolate place, and I fully understand why they all live in the South-east. 
 

I rather doubt that whatever "drought" the happy couple saw is anything other than normal. What a load of bs.

You are speaking a load of BS as it appears that you have never really been all around Australia in the different seasons let alone when there is an abundant supply of rain and water

21 hours ago, Russell17au said:

You are speaking a load of BS as it appears that you have never really been all around Australia in the different seasons let alone when there is an abundant supply of rain and water

Well, you are only partially correct. I have been quite literally all round, arriving Broome, departing Darwin, via to name only a few, Karratha, Rottnest, Ceduna, Mildura, Sydney, Rockhampton, Cairns. But you are right, not in the wet season. My point was that drought appears to be normal, not a crisis, and when it rains obviously it is not a crisis.

So, wind your neck in.

On 10/17/2018 at 2:31 PM, Sir Dude said:

Harry and William plus their photogenic wives are OK imo and a breath of fresh air to the UK royal family, plus bring in way more pounds in tourisms etc. to the UK than they cost/spend. There will always be the haters but the UK is a democracy (despite the EU hating that fact) and a lot of people seem to still like this sort of stuff plus has we have seen a resurgence of its popularity in recent years. If they ever become unpopular then that's a different matter but at the moment that's not the case, so fine, despite me being generally ambivalent about it all in general. Getting to a point though, in this vanity controlled world, that you can barely open a news site without them/vain celebs too being all over it or people trying to be online stars or flashing their flesh in an attempt to get their 15 minutes. How shallow and superficial it has all become...a correction in one form or another will eventually come.

I think Harry and William with their really nice wives have changed a lot of people around to liking the Royal Familly again.

 

I would rather have them than some 'celebrity' who I've never geared of or our political leaders who hate our countries herritage and history. There was serious talk of us having a president, with Blair muted as a possible candidate instead of the Royals, give me the Royals anyway!

 

the queen and her deceased mother actually worked tirelessly for the good of the country, and the queen still does.