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Republican Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) praised Prince Harry as “attractive” and “very pleasant” after they toured a clearing land mines exhibit sponsored by the charity HALO Trust on Capitol Hill.
“Very nice young man. Very pleasant. He seemed to be really interested in this HALO outfit,” said McCain, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, last week.
“He wasn’t just asking cosmetic questions, he was asking in-depth questions about the equipment, who makes it, where it was used.”
He added, “Frankly, I found him to be a very attractive young man. I think he’s very serious certainly about this issue so I’m very impressed.”
HALO Trust has “over 8,000 full-time staff in 14 countries, with on-going surveys into new regions.” By March 2013, the group had destroyed over 1.4 million land mines.
Harry’s late mother Princess Diana was actively involved in the cause of banning land mines.
“Wearing protective clothing, Diana watched workers from a British-based de-mining organization, HALO Trust, clear some of the 5,000 mines found so far around Kuito, [Angola] believed to be the most heavily mined city in the world,” CNN reported in 1997.
“He’s been in Afghanistan twice, serving in Afghanistan and he’s seen the IED problem, which we know a lot about so he was very interested in that aspect, how it applies to what we’re doing in Afghanistan with a very sizable HALO group in Afghanistan,” McCain said of Harry.
Prince Harry and McCain discussed their experiences in the armed forces.
“He had known that I got shot down and I alleged that he was probably a much better pilot than I was since he didn’t,” McCain told reporters.
“We talked a little bit about his flying experiences. My son, who is a Navy helicopter pilot, flies the same kind of helicopter that he does.”
McCain’s wife Cindy is on the HALO Trust board but was unable to attend the event.
McCain, a former Republican presidential nominee, was asked how Harry reacted to the large group of female Hill staffers taking photos of him and cheering.
“He just kind of seemed to be a little, the word isn’t embarrassed but I’m sure it’s not the first time that he’s had that experience,” he said.
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