Prince Harry to visit US, skipping Vegas this time

Prince Harry to visit US, skipping Vegas this time

LONDON-ASSOCIATED PRESS

In this Sunday March 11, 2012 file photo Britain's Prince Harry gives a thumbs up during the award ceremony after playing a charity polo match in Campinas, Brazil. St. James's Palace say Monday March 25, 2013, Prince Harry is returning to the United States ? but this time he's skipping Las Vegas. AP PHOTO

Britain’s Prince Harry is returning to the United States - but this time he’s skipping Las Vegas.

The 28-year-old prince will travel to the U.S. east coast as well as Denver and Colorado Springs, Colorado, to support veterans’ charities and get in a bit of polo.

Harry, a longtime supporter of charities that rehabilitate war veterans, will attend several events at the 2013 Warrior Games, a competition in which veteran athletes from both Britain and the United States take part.

"Prince Harry wants to highlight once again the extraordinary commitment and sacrifice of our injured servicemen and women," said Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, Harry’s private secretary.

Harry recently spent 20 weeks in Afghanistan as co-pilot gunner on an Apache attack helicopter.

His May 9-15 visit will include trips to Arlington National Cemetery, Walter Reed National Medical Center and an exhibition on Capitol Hill about land mine clearance, a favorite subject of his late mother, Princess Diana. He will also visit areas in New Jersey hard hit by Hurricane Sandy.

Harry will also play in the Sentebale Polo Cup in Greenwich, Connecticut. Sentebale - which means "forget-me-not" - is a charity founded by Harry and Lesotho’s Prince Seeiso that helps children struggling with poverty in the tiny southern African country.

On his last U.S. visit, the third-in-line to the British throne stormed into the headlines last year when he was caught frolicking in the nude with a woman after an alleged game of strip billiards in his Las Vegas hotel room.