Wales is wild about Harry--Prince makes official visit to Cardiff

Making his first official visit to Wales as the Royal Patron of Welsh organization Dolen Cymru (The Wales-Lesotho link) Prince Harry was welcomed by enthusiastic--very enthusiastic!--crowds. Harry's arrival to Cathays High school was greeted by hundreds of students--and perhaps a teacher or two!--shouting his name excitedly and waving Welsh and Lesotho flags. Although he looked surprised and blushed as he stepped out of the car to be confronted with the excited crowd Harry took the welcome in stride and happily talked, joked and posed for pictures with the crowd. Unsurprisingly, he found a number of admirers in the crowd.

12-year-old Hollie White burst into tears after being greeted by the prince. Explained Hollie, 'I was just so excited to see him. He was so amazing. You'd have thought he was too posh and would say something like, 'How do you do'? But he wasn't like that at all — he was just gorgeous. I'm a big fan of the royal family, now I've met Harry I want to meet the Queen."

Red-haired Matthew Taylor also met the prince, saying, "We all thought he was going to walk past but he actually took the time to stop and talk to us. "He said to me 'I'm ginger too - gingers love gingers'."

Harry visited the school to learn about the charity work the pupils have been doing in Lesotho. After having joined with Dolen Cymru the school has been raising funds for their sister school in Lesotho, Malopo High School, since 2005. Thanks to student efforts enough funds were raise to buy a small herd of cows, a cow shed, a milking parlour, secure fencing, a greenhouse, seedlings, and an irrigation system. This coming October a small group of volunteers from Cathays High school plans to visit Lesotho to help build a bunkhouse.

After visiting the school Prince Harry went to University Hospital of Wales where, in what ITN has now dubbed 'Harrymania', an even larger crowd of well-wishers was there to meet the prince. As he spoke to the crowd of patients, staff and locals outside the hospital a baby caught the prince's eye.

Said the baby's mother, Natasha Martin, "He was really lovely, very funny, very down to earth. I asked if he wanted a picture and he said, 'Do you want me to hold her?' I wanted him to hold Lexi because she’s been so ill."

Harry held 5-month-old Lexi (who slept throughout; some girls are harder to impress then others) who is recovering from meningitis and also has a rare chromosome disorder. 'Isn't she sweet', said the prince before getting a laugh from onlookers by joking, "She's not mine!" adding, "It's a girl."

"He looked like he didn't want to give her back," laughed Natasha Martin.

Harry also stopped to talk with Emily Williams and Raymond Lillycrop, both 11, who are recovering from spinal surgery. Play specialist Jayne Williams said of the meeting, "He said they were both very brave. Emily is a Cardiff City supporter and he was saying it was a shame they lost the FA Cup final."

Seeing two nurses in the crowd holding an issue of Hello! Magazine with a picture of Kate Middleton and Prince William on the cover Harry took the magazine and made a funny face before saying, "We have really been ribbing him about that at home."

After the walkabout Harry entered the hospital to meet the doctors and nurses from the Cardiff & Vale NHS Trust. The staff is supporting Dolen Cymru by working with Lesotho's Queen Elizabeth II Hospital's Pediatric Ward and Children's HIV clinic. The two hospitals have been working together since 2006.

The Prince then joined Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, with whom he co-founded Sentebale, at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium where Dolen Cymru hosted the third international conference for organizations supporting development in Lesotho. The prince gave the opening speech to the delegates; it was his first speech in public. With Harrymania still ringing in his ears the prince joked as he took the stage, "I paid the kids to scream."

The prince went on, "In 2004 in my own gap year I spent 10 weeks volunteering in Lesotho on a variety of projects. It was one of the most satisfying experiences of my life, and it opened by eyes in so many different ways.

"I don't need to tell this audience how amazing Lesotho is or how incredible the people are. And as you all know, if you've ever heard a group of Basotho children sing you simply can't turn your back on them."

After the conference Harry attend a reception at the National Museum of Wales to open an exhibition of tapestries from Lesotho.

Dolen Cymru (the Wales-Lesotho Link) form in 1985 as a way for Wales not only to make a difference in a struggling country but also to learn more about each other’s culture. Prince Harry became their first royal patron in 2007.

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