Britain’s Prince Harry arrived in the United States Thursday, kicking off his seven-day official visit with a tour of Capitol Hill.
The 28-year-old prince, who is third-in-line for the British throne, returns to the U.S. in hopes of mending his public image tarnished by his last visit when he was photographed naked in Las Vegas playing billiards.
Harry’s visit aims to show the prince’s serious side, including appearances honoring war veterans, attending charity events and touring the devastated New Jersey shoreline still recovering from last year’s Hurricane Sandy.
After taking a commercial flight from London to Washington, Harry went to Capitol Hill to meet Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a former presidential candidate, who showed him around a photography exhibition put on by the anti-landmine charity the Halo Trust, with which Harry’s late mother, Princess Diana, was involved.
The prince’s much anticipated visit led to a big buzz on Twitter, with mostly young American women plotting to catch up to the handsome royal during his visit. Pictures from Capitol Hill showed young female staffers lining up to get a glimpse of the prince.
Harry also paid a visit to the White House Thursday, making an unannounced appearance at a dinner hosted by first lady Michelle Obama to honor military mothers.
Today, Harry will visit Arlington Cemetery, the country’s premier military cemetery which overlooks the Potomac River, to lay wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknowns and in Section 60, where soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan are buried, according to CBS News.
He also will visit wounded veterans at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
At the weekend, Harry is to attend the opening ceremony of the Warrior Games, a Paralympics-style competition for wounded soldiers in Colorado Springs, Colo., where he is to meet competitors and watch the volleyball and cycling events.
The prince then will fly back to the East Coast and visit survivors of last year’s Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey Tuesday.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who will accompany the prince, said he would make sure the prince behaves.
“I’m going to be spending the entire day with Prince Harry, so believe me, nobody is going to get naked,” Christie said in a recent radio show.
On Wednesday, the final day of his visit, Harry will take part in a charity polo match in Connecticut.
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