Harry 'emotional' over jubilee trip

Prince Harry has described his Diamond Jubilee tour as an "emotional trip" that opened his eyes to how fondly Commonwealth nations regard his grandmother the Queen.

Harry said he was "choked up" by the way the countries he visited - Belize, the Bahamas and Jamaica - were celebrating the monarch's 60-year reign.

The 27-year-old Prince revealed he had set off for the seven-day tour with a ringing endorsement from his grandmother who told him "enjoy it, I hope you do me proud".

Speaking after a polo match in aid of his charity Sentebale staged in Brazil, which the royal has been visiting to promote Britain, the Prince said: "I tell you what, it's been an emotional trip.

"I'm absolutely exhausted but the warmth of the reception that we've received from every single country that we've been to has been amazing.

"I personally had no idea how much warmth there was towards the Queen, to me that's been very humbling, and I was actually quite choked up seeing the way that they're celebrating her 60 years.

"She's thousands of miles away to some of these countries and yet they celebrated her in the way they did, and made me feel so welcome, so I couldn't thank them more."

Harry has remained true to himself throughout the tour, bringing his sense of humour and fun to engagements and proving himself to be an adept public speaker like his father, the Prince of Wales.

In Belize the royal enjoyed a Diamond Jubilee street party and was swept up by the genuinely warm welcome from the locals that saw him dancing with performers, tasting local food and even downing shots of rum. The Bahamas gave the royal the chance to formally honour the Queen with the rest of the Commonwealth at a national service of thanksgiving for the monarch.

And Harry charmed Jamaica's staunchly republican prime minister Portia Simpson Miller, who plans to end centuries of formal ties with the British monarchy and replace the Queen as head of state with a Jamaican.