A Harry but not Prince Harry

A LOOKALIKE of Prince Harry of Wales has caused quite a stir in the town of Dumanjug, where the young man has joined volunteers repainting and fixing a public school.

Alas, southern lasses hoping that someday, their prince will come, will have to wait longer.

Asked whether the prince, nicknamed Harry, was indeed staying in his town, Dumanjug Mayor Cesar Baricuatro was at a loss. “Your guess,” said Baricuatro, “is as good as mine.”

“What happened was, when I was inspecting my projects yesterday (Tuesday), a teacher approached me and asked if I had time. She said that there would be a certain Erik Santos who would visit me, with Prince Harry,” said Baricuatro.

Santos, coordinator of the Lantaka Youth Club, arrived with the mystery guest at the municipal hall Tuesday afternoon for a courtesy call on the mayor.

“I asked how to address him, thinking if I should call him ‘Your Highness’ or ‘Your Majesty’, and Erik told me to just call him Harry,” said Baricuatro.

“I did not bother to ask who he really was. Everybody is saying that he is Prince Harry. But then again, he was never introduced to me as Prince Harry,” said the mayor.

Some excited employees at the municipal hall and teachers at the Dumanjug Central School say the young man bore an uncanny resemblance to Prince Harry, third in line to the British throne.

TV Patrol Central Visayas reported last night that the volunteers, the Lantaka Youth Club, issued a official statement, saying the young man was an “18-year-old high school graduate” who was born in Montevideo, Uruguay. The family now lives in the United Kingdom.

The real Prince Harry is 24.

“Whether he is Prince Harry or not, we are still grateful for their help,” said Dumanjug Central School Principal Minerva Zozobrado. “The school is getting painted.”

She did say that once, when she saw the young man jogging, she addressed him as “Your Majesty.”

Since rumors about the “prince” spread, however, swarms of reporters and curious onlookers have descended on the school, she said.

Here’s what happened: A group of 22 volunteers from the Lantaka Youth Club from Quezon City arrived in Dumanjug on April 23 and offered to repaint the school’s façade, roof and walls, install light bulbs, and fix the school’s garden.

Lantaka Youth Club is an inter-school youth organization that sends volunteers on “summer work camps.”

The mayor said that the group wanted to keep their visit private, but the sight of the Prince Harry lookalike fanned rumors there was royalty right there in Dumanjug.

Asked whether the young man was indeed the prince the whole town has been talking about, Santos would not confirm or deny the rumors—hinting he did not want to dash people’s hopes.

“He looks so much like the prince, so that’s what people think,” said Santos. “He just came here with us to experience this kind of work. He has been traveling through Asia doing this work.”

The group is scheduled to leave Dumanjug on May 2, with the prince’s lookalike likely taking on another volunteer mission in the country after their departure.

The volunteers are currently camping out at the school, sleeping in the garden or inside the classrooms. While giving the school a facelift, the volunteers cook their own food and lead Spartan lives.

A recent report on the British royal family’s website said the real Prince Harry is about to complete his Fixed Wing Phase of the Army Pilots’ Course at the RAF Barkston Heath to become a pilot in the Army Air Corps. Prince Harry served in Afghanistan with the British Army in 2008, but was pulled out when the media—sometimes such a royal pain—reported his presence there. Sunstar