Prince Harry In Nepal To Celebrate Holi

Prince Harry has joined in a Hindu festival of colour in Nepal during the fourth day of his five-day trip to the country

Prince Harry's ginger beard was turned a deeper shade of red when he joined in the playful mayhem of a Hindu festival. The 31-year-old's cheeks and forehead were covered when he took part in a powder paint fight as Nepalese schoolchildren celebrated Holi, the Hindu festival of colour. Marking the arrival of spring, its central ritual sees revellers throw powder paint and coloured water at each other as social conventions are relaxed.

It was amazing really, peaceful actually. Lots of dogs barking, but it didn't seem to bother them. Apparently the locals, they're happy if the dogs are barking, but they're not happy if they dogs are not barking.

Harry tells of spending the night in a Nepalese village

The ceremony started with the school's head girl, Juna Garung, smearing paint on Harry's face, he in turn grabbed some coloured powder and wiped it on the face of his Army colleague, Gurka officer Major Prakash Gurung. It soon descended into good-natured chaos, with dignitaries and Harry trading paint which left their clothes and faces splattered. The Prince was at the Gauda Secondary School in the village of Okhari, 4,500ft (1,372m) up in the mountains, to see how the British-based Gurkha Welfare Trust is helping to fund the rebuilding of the school after a number of buildings were damaged during last year's earthquake.