Prince Harry during the pyramid stunt
Being bottom of the pile may not come naturally to Prince Harry, but he found himself at the base of a human pyramid during a visit to a US Air Force base today.
The third in line to the throne gamely got down on all fours to help form a three-tier pyramid with, of all things, a man dressed as a bird on the top.
After forming the pyramid and posing for pictures, the Prince adopted an American accent to say “Good job!”
On day four of his US tour the Prince, 28, joined cadets at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado for an American Football training session, during which he also watched a display of gymnastics by the cheerleaders for the base’s Falcons gridiron team.
He clapped enthusiastically as he watched female cadets being held aloft on one hand by their male counterparts, and before he knew it he had agreed to have a go at a rather simpler balancing act.
The Prince managed to rope in Britain’s most senior military officer in the US, Major General Buster Howse, military attache to the British Embassy in Washington, who crouched down beside him at the base of the pyramid.
Two cheerleaders crouched on top of them and the mascot, dressed as a Falcon, formed the apex.
Cadet Scott Cronin, 19, said: “I was on top of him and he was solid, a solid base. He did great.”
Earlier the Prince had tried his hand at being a quarterback at the academy’s full-sized indoor gridiron pitch.
The Prince was in his element as he was shown how to throw and catch a football, prompting the man who coached him to say: “I’d like to sign him up.”
And he showed deadly accuracy as he threw the ball 30 yards at photographers, scoring a direct hit on a TV cameraman.
He was shown the ropes by Troy Calhoun, head football coach at the academy and a former quarterback, and within minutes was managing to throw 40 and 50 yard passes for other cadets to catch. He also managed to catch a 50-yard pass on the run.
Mr Calhoun said: “The Prince was terrific. You can tell he has great body co-ordination, he would be a natural football player. He is aggressive, he is strong, he is smart, I would love to sign him up to the Air Force Academy football team if I could.
“Honestly I was a little surprised how good he was. It’s not an easy game to pick up and a football is not a regular ball.”
The Air Force Academy is one of two sites being used to stage the Warrior Games for injured servicemen and women, and the Prince took part in the training session as he was given a tour of some of the base’s impressive facilities.
When the Prince threw the ball at the cameramen, he grinned and told the TV man he hit that he was trying to hit one of the stills photographers. “I was aiming for John!” he joked.
Wearing a Warrior Games polo shirt, blue chinos and brown suede shoes, the Prince was taught to shout “hike” when he wanted the ball delivered to him, then showed surprising accuracy in picking out cadets who ran half the length of the pitch to catch his deliveries.
He was given a Falcons shirt with “Wales” on the back and the number 54 for the year the academy was founded, and was also given a falconry glove and several T-shirts.
“Cheers guys, I need more T-shirts,” said the Army captain. “I’ll overlook the fact that it says Air Force on them.”
He added: “I’ve got all the gear, got no idea.”
据英国《每日电讯报》5月12日报道，英国哈里王子在美国空军学院访问时童心大发，贵为王子的他跪在地上大玩叠罗汉。
访美第四天，28岁的哈里王子参观了科罗拉多州美国空军学院的美式橄榄球训练课。期间他还观看了学院猎鹰队拉拉队的体操表演。当看到女学员被她们的男搭档单手举起的时候，他热烈鼓掌。
哈里还说服了英国驻美国最高军官、英国驻华盛顿大使馆陆军武官伯斯特•豪斯加入叠罗汉的游戏，和他一起跪在地上当叠罗汉的“底座”。
两名拉拉队员伏在他们的背上，扮作“猎鹰”的人则站在最上面。拍完照片后，哈里还用美国口音说：“干得好”。
19岁的斯科特•克罗宁说：“我在他上面，他非常结实，基座很稳固。他做的很好。”
此前，哈里王子还曾在学院室内橄榄球馆小试身手。
在掷球和接球的时候，哈里王子身手敏捷，表现上乘，展现出精准的球技。
空军学校橄榄球教练特洛伊•卡尔霍恩向哈里王子演示了一些技巧，几分钟之内哈里王子便成功给其他学员掷出40或50码的传球。他还在奔跑中接到了一个距离50码的传球。
卡尔霍恩说：“哈里王子棒极了。看得出来，他身体协调能力非常好，他会是个天生的橄榄球运动员。他敢打敢拼，强壮聪明，如果可以的话，我很乐意和他签约，加入到空军学院橄榄球队。”
“老实说，他表现这么优秀，我有点吃惊。这不是轻易能学会的，橄榄球可不是普通的球。”
当哈里掷球击中摄影师时，他笑着对这位摄影师说，自己想打的是剧照摄像师。他开玩笑道：“其实我瞄准的是约翰。”
哈里王子穿着polo衫，蓝色卡其裤和棕色鞋，他被告知想接球的时候要大喊“hike”，接着，他十分准确地挑选跑过半场的队员完成了传球。
他获赠一件猎鹰队T恤，背上写有“威尔士”和阿拉伯数字“54”，因为美国空军学院成立于1954年，此外，还有一双“猎鹰”手套和几件T恤。
“我还需要更多的T恤，虽然上面印有‘Air Force’，不过我不会介意。”