September 9, 2009 5:51 PM
- Text
Prepare For Possible Harry Mania!
(CBS)
Britain's Prince Harry makes his first official visit to the United States starting Friday.
He plans to talk about serious issues and raise money to help African children but, reports CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer, the paparazzi almost certainly have other plans.
In 1998, she says, Harry and his brother, Prince William, the sons of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana, arrived in Canada as teen idol heartthrobs.
Ten years later, a grown-up Harry is arriving in New York as one of the world's most eligible bachelors.
Harry is, Palmer observes, notorious in Britain for partying, drinking, and even fighting photographers.
In the daytime, Palmer points out, he serves as an officer in the British military.
But, as she puts it, "Every modern prince needs a cause," and Harry's is a charity called Sentebale, which he helped set up in the tiny African kingdom of Lesotho.
"It was sort of based around what my mother had been doing. I wanted to sort of carry that on," Harry has said.
Diana made headlines when she used her celebrity to raise AIDS awareness. Now, Harry is focusing on the thousands of AIDS orphans in Lesotho.
"He's got," concedes Sentebale's Harper Brown, "a tabloid reputation for being a bit of a playboy. That certainly isn't how he comes across when he comes to visit. He's extremely caring, very in-touch with what the needs are, and very determined to have an organization that makes a difference on the ground."
Sentebale helps fund residential homes where AIDS orphans get food, education, and even an occasional visit from the prince, whose mission in New York -- between parties, Palmer points out -- is to raise money for the children of Lesotho.
He plans to talk about serious issues and raise money to help African children but, reports CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer, the paparazzi almost certainly have other plans.
In 1998, she says, Harry and his brother, Prince William, the sons of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana, arrived in Canada as teen idol heartthrobs.
Ten years later, a grown-up Harry is arriving in New York as one of the world's most eligible bachelors.
Harry is, Palmer observes, notorious in Britain for partying, drinking, and even fighting photographers.
In the daytime, Palmer points out, he serves as an officer in the British military.
But, as she puts it, "Every modern prince needs a cause," and Harry's is a charity called Sentebale, which he helped set up in the tiny African kingdom of Lesotho.
"It was sort of based around what my mother had been doing. I wanted to sort of carry that on," Harry has said.
Diana made headlines when she used her celebrity to raise AIDS awareness. Now, Harry is focusing on the thousands of AIDS orphans in Lesotho.
"He's got," concedes Sentebale's Harper Brown, "a tabloid reputation for being a bit of a playboy. That certainly isn't how he comes across when he comes to visit. He's extremely caring, very in-touch with what the needs are, and very determined to have an organization that makes a difference on the ground."
Sentebale helps fund residential homes where AIDS orphans get food, education, and even an occasional visit from the prince, whose mission in New York -- between parties, Palmer points out -- is to raise money for the children of Lesotho.
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