NEW YORK (AP) — He's a 24-year-old Londoner whose grandmother offered to pay for his trip to New York.

Today, Prince Harry will start his first official visit to America, with plans including a stop at the World Trade Center site, meetings with wounded veterans and a polo match.

"Prince Harry is well known and respected in the United States for having deployed alongside US forces in Afghanistan," said Alan Collins, the British consul general in New York.

Third in line to the British throne, the red-haired prince is a much-watched member of the royal family on both sides of the Atlantic. His "party-boy" image, romantic escapades and brushes with scandal regularly make newspaper headlines. Several years ago, Harry had to apologise for wearing a Nazi swastika armband to a friend's costume party.

But the younger son of the late Princess Diana and Prince Charles is, no doubt, expected to be on his best behaviour representing his country's crown during his two-day New York visit.

His grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, is paying privately for Harry's travel and that of his staff, easing the young prince into his royal role. He's in line for the throne behind his older brother William and his father Charles.

At midday today, Harry is to meet with relatives of four people who died in the September 11 2001 attacks. They will meet at the World Trade Center site, along with New York Gov. David Paterson and officials of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the agency that oversees development at ground zero.

"It's a testament to our loved ones that royalty from another country is coming and expressing interest," said Monica Iken, who lost her husband, Michael, a 37-year-old bond broker.

"When Harry goes to ground zero, he can see how much progress has been made at this construction site," said Iken, who founded September's Mission, a nonprofit organisation devoted to building a positive legacy in the aftermath of September 11.

Later, the prince will formally name the British Garden in downtown Hanover Square to honour the 67 British victims of the terror attack.

Harry also will visit the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Manhattan, where he will tour the prosthetics facilities and a post-traumatic stress disorder clinic. He will be joined by Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans.

A British soldier who lost both legs in an explosion in Afghanistan will accompany Harry on his American trip. Joe Townsend, 21, stepped on a Taliban anti-tank mine last year, about the same time the prince was commanding troops in nearby Helmand.

The prince is training to be an Army helicopter pilot and was the first member of the royal family to serve on the front line since his uncle, Prince Andrew, fought in the Falklands in 1982.

On Saturday, Harry is to participate in the only recreational event on his public schedule — the Veuve Clicquot Manhattan Polo Classic on Governors Island in New York Harbour, where he'll face off against Argentinian polo player and heartthrob Nacho Figueras.

The match will benefit American Friends of Sentebale, a US-based charity that supports impoverished children in Lesotho, Africa, where the prince has worked and produced the documentary film "The Forgotten Kingdom."

Early on Saturday, Harry is to see the Harlem Children's Zone, a community organisation that offers families social and educational services. The prince will be accompanied by Sentebale's co-founder, Prince Seeiso of Lesotho.