All Aboard For Poppy Appeal: Harry Takes Bus

Prince Harry has taken part in the first day of the London Poppy Appeal which aims to beat last year's fund-raising effort for the Royal British Legion.

The prince accompanied actresses Barbara Windsor and Lacey Turner and singer Joss Stone on their bus trip with war veterans, which included a stop at Buckingham Palace.

Harry jokingly told the driver - Sir Peter Hendy, commissioner of Transport for London - he was "the most expensive bus driver in London today" as the bus pulled into the forecourt of the palace.

The Royal stop was the first on a bus journey across the capital from Covent Garden to Leadenhall Market with a stop at Downing Street, too, where Prime Minister David Cameron came on board.

Lance Corporal Johnson Beharry, who became the first recipient of the Victoria Cross for more than two decades in 2005 after risking his life to save his colleagues in Iraq, spoke to Prince Harry.

He said: "He said 'Not you again' because I was with him last night at a church service. He hosted us at St James's Palace. It has been a royal few days.

"Prince Harry is amazing because he has a lot of respect and time for us. I have met him numerous times. He is always the same - full of energy."

EastEnders star Lacey Turner, who recently starred as an army medic in the TV series Our Girl, said: ""This is my first time so I've found everything just amazing and so exciting.

"It's such a lovely day for us normal people to mix with the servicemen and ex-servicemen."

Barbara Windsor said the prince's passion was clear for all to see. "He couldn't wait to talk to everyone in the services," she said.

She said she thought of her father, who served in World War II, on such days, recalling how he had explained why he was going away by referring to her Jewish friends.

"He said 'there's a man in Germany who doesn't like them and he wants to kill them all'. He explained it like that. He said we are going over to rescue those people."