Prince William completes Australia and NZ tour

Britain's Prince William has left Melbourne after spending an emotional five days visiting communities devastated by recent natural disasters in Australia and New Zealand.

The second-in-line to the throne - who travelled without his fiancee Kate Middleton because he was representing his grandmother Queen Elizabeth - was reportedly incredibly moved by those he met as he was told stories of lost loved ones and ruined homes.

A royal aide told the Daily Telegraph: "He has been very touched and humbled by what he has seen because these communities have lost everything and the way they have stuck together and looked after one another is genuinely a lesson to all of us.

"But everywhere he's gone he has seen a lot of resilience and good humour.

"He's very pleased and honoured to have been able to come and meet so many people in some quite hard to reach communities."

During his tour, which included visits to Christchurch, New Zealand and rural towns in Victoria, Australia the prince was moved to tears when he met 11-year-old Blake Rice, whose brother and mother were swept to their deaths on January 10 in Toowoomba, Queensland.

Blake's father John said he thought William was affected by his family's story because is brought to mind his mother the late Princess Diana, who died in a car crash in 1997.

He said: "The prince said that not a night went by where we were not in his thoughts."

"You could see in his eyes when he shed a tear that our story re-opened his own pain and sense of loss at losing someone tragically that you so dearly love. You could tell that Prince William also felt our pain and that in itself was comforting."