Prince starts trip with quips

Britain's Prince Harry joked and chatted with an enthusiastic crowd in Canberra on Monday at his only scheduled public appearance during a monthlong attachment to Australia's army, declaring pride in his ginger hair and advising teens that "selfies are bad".

The 30-year-old army captain reported for duty in Canberra, Australia's capital, to begin a four-week embedment with the Australian army that will take him to the east, west and north coasts of the nation as he prepares to retire from the British military.

But before he got down to military business, Harry ignored light rain and cool weather to shake hands and chat with hundreds of cheering well-wishers who gathered at cordons to welcome him outside the Australian War Memorial.