Prince Harry shows heart for homeland

As New Zealand prepares to vote on the future of the flag, Prince Harry has pushed home the links between the royal family and New Zealand on his final night in the country.

At a reception last night, the Prince moved to reinforce the royal family's affection for New Zealand just after meetings at which the debate around the flag was discussed with Labour leader Andrew Little, who is a republican, and Prime Minister John Key.

"These links are of course central to the constitution of this nation, but they go much deeper than that. They are built on a profound personal fondness for this captivating country and its charming, talented people," the Prince said.

The speech at a reception for emergency services and disaster response workers ticked all the right boxes for a New Zealand audience, including saying nice things about the country, rugby and self deprecating jokes. He even ad libbed a bit. After saying he could not believe it had taken him more than 30 years to get to New Zealand but he was delighted to finally have made it, he quipped "I know I'm sounding like some kind of explorer. A failed explorer."

He also inadvertently touched on a controversial political topic: spying. "As a passionate rugby fan, I've always wanted to know how you can be so damned good with such a small population. But don't worry, I am not here to spy on you. I come in peace, despite what people think."

He then paid tribute to the emergency service worker and disaster response workers. He said Christchurch had shown great community spirit but "heart" also needed professional trained response teams to help it thrive.

At the end of his speech he morphed into Arnold Schwarzenegger and promised "I'll be back".

He also held meetings with Mr Key and Mr Little. While Mr Key is a self-declared monarchist, Mr Little said he had made his own views known to the Prince in "a respectful discussion".

Mr Key also clearly tried to make the Prince feel at home by talking about that favourite topic of many British people: the weather. The Prince's visit has included hail, floods in Wellington and tornadoes.

Earlier in the day, the Prince visited students at Southern Cross Campus in Mangere and visited the Middlemore spinal unit. At the unit's gym, he was presented with an All Blacks shirt, which had "P Harry" and the number 15 on it.

The Prince also visited Turn Your Life Around, a youth development programme for children, young people and families to reduce and prevent youth offending.

He played a young man at table soccer before painting his own hand purple to contribute to the handprint wall. He quickly dashed across the room to plant a purple handprint on the head of a visiting British photographer.

"You know why I did that," Prince Harry said, laughing.

The handprint could have been retaliation for the photographer's comments on breakfast TV about Prince Harry talking about going bald like his father Prince Charles.

See Harry today

10.15am
He will attend a Fifa U20 event held at The Cloud, in downtown Auckland.

10.20am
Will take part in a five-a-side football game at The Cloud.

11.15am
Walkabout at The Cloud.

11.50am
Arrive at the AUT Millennium of Sport premises in Mairangi Bay, Auckland.