SYDNEY, April 7, 2015 (AFP) - Prince Harry has warned Australians against taking a “selfie” with him during his one-month stint Down Under, saying he much prefers normal photographs.
The 30-year-old British prince was warmly received by hundreds of fans in Canberra on Monday, including one teenage girl who wanted to have a photograph of herself with him in the background.
“No, I hate selfies,” the popular royal said in the one scheduled public event of his month in Australia, during which he will be embedded with Australian soldiers in Sydney, Darwin and Perth.
“Seriously! You need to get out of it. I know you’re young but selfies are bad,” he added. “Just take a normal photograph”.
Lauren Rosewarne, a University of Melbourne social media expert, said the prince’s comments should be seen as “words of wisdom” for young people leaving indelible electronic footprints with their social media postings.
“Young people need to be reminded as many times as possible that what you put online stays online, even if you delete it,” she told AFP.
“He knows probably better than anyone... how these images will never go away.”
The prince may also have been warning of the aesthetic failings of selfies, a photograph a person takes of themselves, typically with a smartphone and often shared over social media, Rosewarne said.
The prince, who spent two tours in Afghanistan flying helicopters with the British Army, is in Australia for a month-long mission before he retires from the army in June.
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