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Saturday June 6, 2009

America's new sweethearts

STATE SIDE WITH LIM AI LEE


Britain may have lost a great colony more than 200 years ago but two unlikely souls may just have made a conquest of a different kind in the US.

FORMER bad boy Prince Harry has bowled over the Americans, just like his late mum Princess Diana did 20 years ago.

The 24-year-old red-head prince, who has a penchant for getting into scrapes, ditched his playboy image and conquered the Big Apple last week with his common touch, caring ways and cheeky good looks.

It was his first official trip outside Britain and the prince, who was just four when Diana made her royal visit and dazzled New York, has surprisingly turned out to be a great ambassador for his country.

The New York media gave Harry the thumbs up, with one tabloid describing the third in line to the British throne as “a breath of fresh heir”.

Another noted that the hard-partying Harry, second son of Diana and Prince Charles, has grown into a regular Prince Charming.

The press though, were a tad disappointed that the fun-loving prince did not sneak out to one of the city’s notorious pubs for a Martini, a midtown lap dance or a booze cruise along the Hudson River. His tight schedule had in fact, left him little time for personal amusement.

But while there was no embarassing escapade, Harry made up for it by being his naturally friendly and charming self during his whirlwind visit.

The prince’s first day in New York began with a 30-minute visit to the World Trade Center site. Dressed in a conservative blue suit, Harry was sombre as he bowed his head for several minutes to pay respects to those who died during the Sept 11, 2001, tragedy.

He placed a wreath of roses and peonies, along with a handwritten note simply signed “Harry”, in which he paid tribute to those who lost their lives and praised the courage of “the people of this great city on that day”.

This was followed by endless handshakes at Ground Zero with officials, 9/11 families, wounded veterans and excited onlookers.

Pastry chef Gillian Rourke, who was there with her daughter Sherry, believed Harry showed genuine concern for those who lost their loved ones in the tragedy as he himself had lost his mother at a young age.

“I remember seeing him and (his brother) Prince William at their mother’s funeral many years ago on TV. They were two sad little boys when Diana died. And Harry is all grown up now – a confident young man,” Gillian remarked.

Sherry, who is the same age as Harry, said he looked cute, though not quite as handsome as his elder brother.

“This is the first time I get to see a real-life prince. He’s so people friendly and approachable,” said the graduate student.

Needless to say, Harry’s two-day visit received wide coverage in the local media with his pictures splashed over the pages.

A 9/11 widow, Monica Iken, told journalists later that Harry asked to hear her story and felt the pain of victims’ families.

“Was this the same fellow caught smoking pot at his elite English school? The schmuck who wore a Nazi armband to a costume party? Or the offensive loudmouth filmed using racist language and forced to apologize?” the NY Daily Times asked.

The daily described the crowd’s reaction to Harry when he arrived at another function in Hanover Square as something akin to greeting a “fifth Beatle”.

“I’m never washing my hands again. He had quite a handshake,” Wendy Alston, 54, of Brooklyn, was quoted as saying.

“He’s definitely following in his mother’s footsteps. He’s humble and giving, just like Diana was. I think America loves him already,” said Dr Magdelaine Deeby who met the prince when he later visited the Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

On his second day in New York, the prince played polo in Governors Island in New York Harbour to raise funds for Sentebale, the charity that he set up with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho to help impoverished children and AIDs orphans in the small African country.

His short speech must have touched many hearts, especially mothers who were present.

“Prince Seeiso and I both lost our mothers when we were very young. We set up Sentebale in their memory, and because my mother loved this city, it makes this occasion all the more poignant for me.”

The event was free to the public, but guests in the VIP tent on the opposite side of the field – like Madonna, actresses Kate Hudson and Chloe Sevigny, and rapper LL Cool J – had paid from US$500 (RM1750) a head to picnic on the lawn to US$50,000 (RM175,000) a table.

Harry is not the only Briton who has the American public enamoured of late. Britain’s Got Talent runner-up Susan Boyle has been making waves in the US the last two months with her “heavenly” voice even without stepping on US soil.

Americans, who had rooted unabashedly for the matronly 48-year-old, despaired when Boyle failed to win the contest last week, losing to dance group Diversity. Some even blamed the British media for giving her bad press just before the finals, claiming that cost her the title.

Time Online opined that the British competition had produced only one truly global star and that was Boyle, who “looks like a dinner lady and sings like a miracle”.

There is even talk that if Americans, who had first watched Boyle on YouTube were allowed to vote, she would have taken the crown. In fact, Boyle mania is even more widespread in the US than in Britain, thanks to YouTube and technological advances.

Boyle, already the most down-loaded woman in history, has so far given video-conference interviews to CBS Early Show and the Oprah Winfrey Show, did a telecast with Diane Sawyer for ABC’s Good Morning America and even moved Today host Kathie Lee Gifford to tears.

Long before the finals, the unglamorous homebody with the messy hair and double chin had appeared on computer and TV screens in the living rooms of Americans, singing her signature song I Dreamed a Dream from her home in Scotland.

Clips of the singing lady not only appear on morning shows but practically every evening on entertainment programmmes like ET, Insider and Access Hollywood.

With the talent show over, Boyle already has numerous talk shows lined up for her in the US. But these have been put on hold after Boyle collapsed under tremendous strain following the contest finals. Americans can’t wait for her to be up and singing again.

While Boyle may not have dreamed her dream in Britain, she just might realise it in America where dreams are made.

Britain may have lost a great colony more than 200 years ago but it seems two unlikely souls – a playboy prince and a frumpy church volunteer – have just made a different kind of conquest on the Americans.

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