Just a little reminder of the time Prince Harry had his gap yah in Australia
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are currently Down Under to embark on a two-week royal tour of Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga.
Not only this, the day they arrived in Sydney, Kensington Palace announced they are expecting their first baby in the Spring, rejoice!
The newlyweds, who are travelling to the regions at the request of the Foreign Office, have already touched down in Sydney where they have met some koalas named after them and were gifted a pair of teeny tiny Ugg boots for their royal baby.
The Sussex's are in Australia for the 2018 Invictus Games - the sports event set up by Prince Harry for injured war veterans. Having been held in London, the US and Canada in the past, Harry said he was bringing the games to Sydney because it's an iconic city with a proud military heritage, describing Oz as somewhere "where they are absolutely sports mad and would really get behind our competitors".
But we think there might be another reason why Harry is so keen to travel to Australia. His previous visits to the Commonwealth country suggest he is a big fan of the nation. This was perhaps most apparent during his gap year in 2003.
After finishing his studies at Eton and before joining the army, Harry took some time out to see the world. He spent four months in Australia, although the Palace referred to it as a 'sabbatical', rather than a gap yah, at the time.
While regular gap year photos might consist of alcohol-filled buckets and neon face paint in Thailand, Harry had to have some official photos taken - which, here at Cosmopolitan UK - we've recently uncovered and are now re-visiting.
Here's a recently-turned 19-year-old Harry with koalas Yindi and Lowana in front of the Sydney Opera House on 23 September, 2003.
Poor Harry is pictured yelping here, after a prick from an echidna called Spike, which is appropriate, in the same photoshoot at Taronga Zoo in Sydney. Fun fact: The echidna is one of only two egg-laying mammals in existence, the other is a platypus.
Understandably, Harry seemed to be enjoying petting this orphan wallaby joey, adorably named Wilbury, far more than the hedgehog echidna. This is despite its slightly demonic eyes, which we're going to put down to the early noughties camera quality.
Here's Harry with a ring-tailed possum. It's funny - despite his facial expression, we can't work out if he is having fun here or not.
As well as playing with native Aussie animals, Harry played polo for the Young England team. He's smiling here, in spite of the mud, because Young England beat Young Australia 6-4 at a match in Sydney's Richmond area on 23 November, 2003.
While, in the majority of cases, agricultural work in Australia tends to be more along the lines of picking spiders of fruit in the outback, Harry worked as a Jackaroo - which involved working on a cattle ranch owned by friends of his mother, Princess Diana, in Tooloombilla, Queensland. He can be seen here holding a traditional Akubra leather hat with his horse, regally named Guardsman.
Note to the royal family: We are very keen for replicas of these moments, including the Duchess of Sussex, on the upcoming trip.
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