Prince Harry showed off his sports skills as he enjoyed a football kickabout with children in Melbourne on the second day of his Australia tour with his wife Meghan Markle on Wednesday.
The Duke of Sussex, 41, met with supporters of the men’s health charity at the Whitten Oval, which is the training and administrative headquarters of Australian rules football club Western Bulldogs.
The duke looked delighted and beamed as he ran across the pitch to have a kickabout with children, telling one boy: “Good kick man” and “it’s a slippery ball that”.
Harry went solo for the second day of events, which later saw him travel to Canberra to meet veterans at the Australian War Memorial. Meghan was absent for the second day of the programme, as she was reportedly filming a secret episode of MasterChef Australia.
The father of two looked dapper in a gray button-up shirt and black pants as he attended an event focused on addressing men’s health issues in Melbourne.
He then took part in a Q&A session surrounding the Movember movement, which encourages men to grow mustaches in November to raise awareness of and funds for men’s health projects.
“Obviously, 40 years ago, there wasn’t social media,” he said during the session. “That’s just one example of conversations that are now happening in households between kids and parents that never existed between me and my parents.”
He also discussed his fatherhood journey with Dr Zac Seidler, Global Director of Research at the Movember Institute of Men’s Health. “It’s the most important and transformational role a guy can ever move into,” he said. “That role…gives you purpose.”
“Those days, weeks, after birth are a real struggle,” he admitted, before adding that he kept a diary to document his fatherhood journey.
“You’re not alone,” Harry said. “For me, [going to therapy] was a sign of strength, not weakness. Don’t ever let yourself get to the point where you are no use to anybody.”
Harry and Meghan’s second day Down Under saw the Duke take the lead as he visited the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, just a short plane ride from Melbourne.
During his visit to the nation’s capital, he will also attend a reception for Invictus Australia and meet with Indigenous veterans.
During his visit to the nation’s capital, he attended a Last Post ceremony, which serves to commemorate an individual through the sounding of the last post tune.
He also met with Indigenous war veterans at the memorial, and paid his respects during a Welcome to Country ceremony, where he wafted smoke from the fire pit as per tradition.
Harry laid a wreath at the ceremony before being taken inside to see a gallery dedicated to Captain Reg Saunders, the first Indigenous Australian to be commissioned as an officer in the Australian army.
The 41-year-old will then return to Melbourne and reunite with his wife before they begin the third day of their whirlwind Australia tour.