Prince Harry in New York on his first official US engagement

May 29, 2009, 19:34 GMT

New York - Britain's Prince Harry arrived in New York on Friday to perform his first official overseas engagement, which included a stop at the site of the World Trade Center, better known as Ground Zero.

Ground Zero is being rebuilt after the iconic 110-storey twin towers were destroyed by two terrorist-hijacked commercial airplanes on September 11, 2001. The attacks killed more than 2,700 people.

Prince Harry's two-day visit included several locations in New York City. Local news reports said the prince's schedule called for a visit to Hanover Square, which is close to the World Trade Center, where a British garden was erected in honour of the 67 Britons who died in the September 11 attacks.

He was scheduled to meet with some families of Ground Zero victims while at the site. He was scheduled also to take part in a polo game to raise funds for his favourite Sentebale charity for children in the southern African state of Lesotho.

Prince Harry, 24, an officer in the British Army, spent 10 weeks on the frontline in Afghanistan's Helmand province, but was pulled out on security grounds when his secret deployment became public in February, 2008.