Prince Harry at Suffolk Show thanks locals over training flights

Prince Harry has praised the people of Suffolk for putting up with his day and night army helicopter flights as he visited the county show.

The prince, who flew Apache helicopters on training missions from Wattisham Airfield, near Needham Market, addressed a crowd at the Suffolk Show.

He also praised the "beauty" of the East Anglian countryside.

"I know this because I've had the pleasure of flying Her Majesty's Apaches through those skies," he said.

Prince Harry played touch rugby with children at Inspire Suffolk in Ipswich before visiting the Suffolk Show

The Royal guest gave a five-minute speech on the second day of the show at Trinity Park, near Ipswich.

He thanked the crowd "from the bottom of my heart" for the "welcome and kindness" he had received during his time as a Suffolk soldier.

"It's one thing to have experienced such generosity of spirit, it's quite another to have encountered it from people who have had me buzzing over them and their animals at all hours of the day and night," he said.

Engaging youngsters

He also marked the outbreak of World War One in 1914 and the Suffolk Regiment's role in the conflict.

"One hundred years on we remember our forebears who gave their lives for us," he said.

"We should remember those gallant men of Suffolk who, in the first months of that war, saved the British Army from destruction at Le Cateau."

The prince earlier took part in touch rugby, five-a-side football and basketball coaching sessions with youngsters at Inspire Suffolk in Ipswich.

Terry Baxter, chief executive of the charity, said: "We're an education support charity that uses sport and I think that's something that's caught his imagination.

"We work in conjunction with the Prince's Trust and Harry is very interested in the way sport can engage with young people and motivate them in ways which, perhaps, traditional education methods don't."

Prince Harry threw himself in to the touch rugby to the obvious delight of the children

Inspire Suffolk is based at the former Holywells High School site on Lindbergh Road in Ipswich

Inspire Suffolk used to be the Ipswich Town Football Club Charitable Trust

Terry Baxter said Harry was "interested in the way sport can engage with young people and motivate them"