"He wanted to see the hardest-hit town in New Jersey."
Prince Harry to visit Shore
POINT PLEASANT BEACH, N.J. - The mayor of a storm-wrecked Jersey Shore town said Monday that England's Prince Harry will visit next week before heading to a news conference nearby.
Mantoloking Mayor George Nebel said Monday that Harry, an heir to the throne, will take a short walk along Barnegat Lane along the bay front during a brief visit Tuesday. The prince will accompany Gov. Christie to Seaside Heights afterward.
During a council meeting, held in Point Pleasant Beach because Mantoloking's municipal building was wrecked by the storm, Nebel revealed part of the prince's itinerary for his visit to the East Coast.
"Security for this visit is being handled by the U.S. State Department, so most of you won't get anywhere near" the prince, Nebel told residents.
The prince and Christie are scheduled to take "a brief walk" along the roadway, in the less-seriously-damaged section of the borough.
"He wanted to see the hardest-hit town in New Jersey," Nebel said. "He'll arrive by car, walk along the road to see 10 houses, back in the car with the governor, and gone."
Every one of Mantoloking's 521 houses was damaged or destroyed, and the storm surge split the borough in half, cutting between the Atlantic Ocean and Barnegat Bay a new channel that took a massive emergency construction project to fill in.
Harry is visiting various areas of the country from Thursday to May 15 and wanted to include areas of the Shore that were devastated by Sandy.
Other planned stops include an exhibition in Washington on land mine clearance, a favorite cause of his late mother, Princess Diana; a British ambassador's reception; and visits to Arlington National Cemetery and the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
In Colorado, the prince is to attend a diplomatic reception in Denver and the 2013 Warrior Games in Colorado Springs.
In New York City, Harry's visit will include an event promoting a community baseball program involving a new partnership with the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, which bills itself as the culmination of the charity lives of Harry and his brother and sister-in-law, Prince William and Duchess Kate.
Harry also will take in a polo cup match in Connecticut.