Harry’s marriage proposal... from student in plastic crown

Hundreds gathered at the landmark to greet Harry, who has come to the end of a month-long attachment with the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

He spent more than half an hour meeting schoolchildren and shaking hands with fans, some holding signs which read “Marry me Harry”, “His Royal Hotness” and “Gingers Rule”.

Victoria McRae, 21, wore a sequinned Australian flag dress and a plastic gold crown as she proposed to the Prince before surprising him with a kiss.

Harry, dressed in his military uniform, told her he would “have to think about that”, and then bit his knuckles. “I got to kiss him. And I got to kiss the premier, who I didn’t know was the premier,” the student said. “I got Harry’s lips, I only got the premier on the cheek.”

She added it was not the first time she had popped the question to 30-year-old Harry, as on one occasion in 2013 she kayaked on to Sydney harbour with a sign.

Meanwhile, alongside a video of the Prince meeting the public, Kensington Palace tweeted: “Prince Harry thanks the Australian public for the warm welcome during his stay.”

Another fan, Anne Woods, gave him a stuffed koala for his new niece Princess Charlotte, but while he thanked her, he said he wanted to keep it for himself,

“It was just lovely, just lovely to give him a gift for all the charity work (the Prince does),” Ms Woods told AAP.

Also among those lining up to meet Harry was Graham Smyth, who took part in the Queen’s visit to Australia in 1954 as a flag-waving six-year-old, the agency reported.

He said the opportunity to see the Prince in person was “too good to pass up”.

Before meeting the crowds gathered near the opera house, the Prince took part in a military exercise in Sydney Harbour.

While Harry has been away, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s daughter, Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, was born on May 2.

Harry, who moved down to fifth in line to the throne following the baby’s arrival, described his niece as “absolutely beautiful’’ and said he could not wait to meet her.

The Prince also met Lieutenant Ali Spearing, 31, a Royal Engineers officer who lost both legs in Afghanistan in 2011 and has undergone pioneering treatment in Australia to fit prosthetic limbs.

The officer travelled across the world to a clinic at the hospital to receive pioneering treatment from Associate Professor Munjed Al Muderis, a leading orthopaedic hip and knee surgeon and osseointegration specialist - where an implant is inserted into an amputee’s limb.