Royal officials in a flap as Harry's car suffers flag malfunction in Guyana

Officials were left in a flap when Prince Harry's royal standard flew off his official chauffeur-driven car and blew down the road soon after he arrived in Guyana.

The mishap came minutes after his plane touched down in the capital Georgetown and his large motorcade was driving away from the airport.

Cars braked sharply when the royal flag, brought over with the prince's entourage, came off a small mast attached to the side of a Land Rover Discovery carrying the royal.

An official ran full pelt after the item and when he picked it up sprinted back even faster to hand it to another official.

Royal standards are flown from buildings, cars and even planes to let the world know a member of the Royal Family is in residence or travelling.

Just before the flag dislodged itself from Harry's four-by-four he had asked for it to be stopped so he could receive a bunch of yellow blooms from a little girl at the perimeter fence.

Harry has already travelled to six Caribbean nations on behalf of the Queen and on Thursday the prince and Barbados-born global star Rihanna had HIV tests in the singer's home country to mark World Aids Day and raise awareness about the illness.

The prince was later taken to meet President David Granger, a retired senior army officer, who was joined by his prime minister Moses Nagamootoo and some members of the cabinet at the Ministry of the Presidency.

After posing for a picture with the statesman and the politicians Mr Granger joked "Its not quite Rihanna - but we tried", a quip which made everyone in the room laugh.