Harry stance on landmines praised

Prince Harry, right, and Senator John McCain on Capitol Hill, Washington
9 May 2013

Prince Harry's support of a landmine clearance charity has been praised as he began his tour of America by visiting an exhibition highlighting the organisation's vital work.

Harry made the trip to Capitol Hill in Washington to see a moving photographic display which is raising awareness about the efforts of the anti-landmine charity the Halo Trust.

The Prince has returned to America for the first time since he sparked outrage by being photographed naked during a break in Las Vegas last year.

His seven-day tour will see him attend the Warrior Games, a Paralympic-style sporting championship for injured servicemen and women, support British interests and promote his own charities.

The royal has followed in the footsteps of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales by supporting the Halo Trust, founded in 1988, and this year he became patron of its 25th anniversary appeal.

Diana famously highlighted the work of the organisation when she was pictured wearing a face mask and protective clothing during a visit to a minefield being cleared by the Trust in Angola in 1997.

Fiona Willoughby, wife of Guy Willoughby Halo's chief executive officer, took many of the pictures on display.

Mrs Willoughby, the Trust's marketing manager, said the photographs, taken from 2009 to earlier this year, catalogued the story of landmines - showing an amputee landmine victim, Halo staff clearing ordnance and finally land free from mines being used.

Countries featured in the images include Sri Lanka, where a protracted and bloody civil war ended in 2009, southern Angola and Afghanistan.

Mrs Willoughby said: "Having Prince Harry attend our exhibition makes it a global issue. People have forgotten about it and we think Prince Harry following in his mother's footsteps is a worthy cause and will raise the profile of what we are doing. He's a soldier he's been to Afghanistan so he understands landmines, he understands conflict and the landmine clearance that's needed."

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