Prince William on Tuesday began his first visit as an adult to Australia, kicking off a tour that will take in a poor inner-city Aboriginal community and towns devastated by deadly wildfires.
The prince last visited the country as a nine-month-old baby with his parents Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana in 1983.
The second-in-line to the throne requested the unofficial visit because he wanted to get to know Australia, arriving after an official visit to New Zealand where he represented his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II for the first time.
Prince William stepped off a Royal New Zealand Air Force jet before being whisked off to meet the Queen's representative in Australia, Governor General Quentin Bryce.
During a tour of the grounds of Bryce's official harbourside mansion, the prince described the view of Sydney's famed Opera House and Harbour Bridge as "thrilling", and waved to stunned passengers on a passing ferry.
He and Bryce were joined for lunch by 20 prominent young Australians, including singer Delta Goodrem, cricketer Michael Clarke, Olympic diver Matthew Mitcham and Wallabies skipper Rocky Elsom.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Australians would welcome the 27-year-old royal.
"I think there's an affection for the Queen herself and there's clearly an affection for Prince William," Smith told Sky News.
"It's quite clearly the case that he's going to be welcomed very enthusiastically in Australia, as he was in New Zealand and as he should be."
Around 40 fans, many waving Australian flags, greeted smiling Prince William outside the governor-general's residence, while television stations offered wall-to-wall live coverage of the start of the historic visit and showed images of the baby prince in his mother's arms on his last trip.
Although described by the press as "Prince Charming" following his relaxed tour of New Zealand, a seasoned royal-watcher has warned while William was "as lovely as can be", he was no longer as good looking as he once was.
"At 18 he was divine, at 22 he wasn't bad, but now, standing here next to all these sun-tanned Kiwis he looks like a pale Pommie prince with a thatch in his patch," Hello! reporter Judy Wade reported from New Zealand.
"He comes off looking second best. Harry's the heart throb now and he's far more fun."
But Wade noted that Prince William has "got his mother's magic."
"He reminds the world of Diana and that's a wonderful thing," she said.
Hundreds of onlookers gathered in the inner-Sydney Aboriginal neighbourhood of Redfern for the first stage of the prince's whistlestop tour.
Aboriginal leaders have said they will ask Prince William for help in finding and returning the head of an indigenous warrior, Pemulwuy, who opposed British settlers and was shot dead for his efforts in 1802.
His head was cut off and is believed to have been placed in a jar and sent to England. Its location is unknown.
In keeping with his personal interest in young people and the armed services, he will also meet Australian soldiers at a Sydney barracks.
The prince's tour comes as a poll revealed the majority of Australians, who in 1999 voted against a model to become a republic, would prefer Prince William to be their next king instead of his father Prince Charles.
The survey for ITV News found 58 percent of those interviewed thought William should be the next monarch compared with 30 percent for Charles.
It had a closer result on the question of a monarchy, with 45 percent voting in favour of the Queen remaining Australia's head of state and 43 percent against.
The Australian Republican Movement dismissed the poll as irrelevant but said Prince William's visit did highlight the fact that Australia's head of state was British.
"But people don't spend all day in Australia worrying about constitutional issues," the movement's president Michael Keating told AFP.
Keating said he did not expect republicans to protest the prince's visit.
Prince William will visit bushfire-ravaged areas near Melbourne on Thursday before returning home the following day.
Copyright 2010 AFP European Edition
