They cheered, they flirted and occasionally they landed a kiss.
Hundreds of Prince Harry's admirers, some with signs saying "Marry Me Harry" and "His Royal Hotness", lined up to meet the uniformed prince outside Sydney's Opera House for the final public outing of his Australian tour.
And royal fanatic Victoria McRae, dressed in a sequin Australian flag dress and a plastic gold crown, wasn't going to die wondering.
She proposed to the fifth in line to the throne and he responded by biting his knuckles and saying he'd "have to think about that".
After gesturing for a kiss on the cheek, he lent in and the 21-year-old student tried to plant one on the lips.
"I got to kiss him. And I got to kiss the premier, who I didn't know was the premier," Ms McRae said.
"I got Harry's lips, I only got the premier on the cheek."
The kiss revived memories of the 1979 kiss when Harry's father, Prince Charles, was pecked on the cheek by Australian model Jane Priest on a Perth beach.
Ms McRae has proposed to the prince several times, including in 2013 with a sign from a kayak on Sydney Harbour.
The prince later revealed she was not the only one to spring a smooch on him at the Opera House.
"I got more than one kiss," he said at Macquarie University Clinic, where he met a veteran injured in Afghanistan.
British officer Ali Spearing is receiving prosthetics after losing both his legs on deployment in 2011.
He was not the only person affected by war to speak with the prince on Thursday afternoon.
The 30-year-old was quick to notice the Victoria Cross worn by war widow Daphne Dunne at the Opera House.
"He got close to me and he said 'I know what that is'," the 95-year-old told AAP.
"And I said, 'Well you should"'.
It was a touching moment at the close of the prince's month-long farewell tour from the military.
"All it's done is made me not want to finish my military career to be honest with you," he said.
"The soldiers over here are very similar to our guys, so the sense of humour's still the same."
Prince Harry will travel to New Zealand before returning to the UK where he will meet his newborn niece, Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.
He said Australian royalists had given him "a hell of a lot of cuddly toys" for the newest royal.
Prince Harry's visit
Saturday, May 9: Wellington
• Arriving in New Zealand, greeted by Governor-General at Government House.
• Visiting the National War Memorial and Anzac Square.
• Attending Hurricanes vs Sharks Super 15 rugby match, Westpac Stadium.
May 10-11: Stewart Island
• Meeting locals and travelling to Ulva Island, a Department of Conservation open island sanctuary.
May 12: Christchurch
• Visiting the Quake City exhibition, mall, and meeting student volunteers from Canterbury University.
May 13: Palmerston North
• Visiting Linton Military Camp. He is to be taught the Army's haka.
May 14: Whanganui
• Visiting Putiki Marae. He will join the crew of the marae's waka for a trip on the river. He will also visit the war memorial centre to meet local veterans.
May 15-16: Auckland
• Visiting Middlemore Hospital's Spinal Rehabilitation Unit, supported by the NZ Rugby Foundation.
• Reception with emergency services at Government House.
• On Saturday, attending a Fifa U20 World Cup event at the Cloud, before going to the Millennium Institute of Sport.
- AAP