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Prince Harry unexpectedly showed up on Jimmy Fallon’s US talk show – and his appearance left him screaming and swearing.

Harry was invited to walk through a “haunted” maze with the host, and the result was broadcast on Thursday night’s episode of The Tonight Show (26 September).

Based on Fallon’s nightmares, the maze is a New York-based attraction set to feature several rooms filled with actors jumping out at attendees.

These actors brought Halloween to life for the pair a month before it opens to the public.

The Tonight Show’s YouTube page said: “Brace yourself for 10 spine-chilling rooms that bring Jimmy’s worst nightmares to life with sinister characters and scares around every corner. Enter if you dare!”

At one stage in the clip, Harry questioned if one of the monsters was a panda before an actor suddenly jumped out in front of the Duke of Sussex, which prompted him to scream and swear before erupting into nervous laughter.

“You’re afraid of pandas,” Fallon said as Harry protested: “No, I’m not!”

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At another point, a werewolf jumped out in front of the pair, and without thinking, Harry put his hand on Fallon’s stomach in fear. Fallon admitted: “That actually got me!”

One moment saw the actors temporarily break their characters to express shock that they had just scared a member of the royal family.

The scares did not end when the duo posed for a picture after they had walked through the maze, with yet another actor screaming behind them for one last fright.

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The duke previously appeared on the Tonight Show to promote his bombshell 2023 memoir, Spare, which is coincidentally being released in paperback for the first time next month.

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During the appearance, Harry, who has had an interesting few years since stepping down as a working member of the royal family in 2020, admitted that he feels “the presence of his mum” now more than ever.

“I’ve said quite a lot recently in different interviews that I’ve really felt the presence of my mum, especially in the last couple of years,” he said.

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“I detail in the book my brother and I talking at her grave and how he felt as though she had been with him for a long period of time and helped set him up with life and that he felt she was now moving over to me.”

The video arrived amid a solo visit to New York that has seen Harry, who recently turned 40, promote several philanthropic causes close to his heart.

Harry’s packed schedule of engagements in the Big Apple began with a dinner hosted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Sunday (22 September), which highlighted the impact of violence on children’s mental health.

He also appeared at The Diana Awards on Monday (23 September), set up in memory of the late princess, which honours young people making a significant difference in the lives of others.

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“I’ve said it years ago, and I’ll say it again – the younger generation are, not putting too much pressure on you guys, you are what give me hope,” Harry said. “The courage that you have gives me hope, because every single one of us need courage in order to really move the dial and create positive change in today’s world, probably more so now than ever.”

He added, “I know that my mum would be incredibly proud of you guys – not just you, but all of the award winners.”

Jimmy Fallon’s Tonightmares is available to visit in New York until 31 October.

JEREMY Clarkson is a great polar explorer like Captain Scott, a top historian claims.

Dr Linda Parker hailed his race to the North Pole on Top Gear in 2007 as a “watershed moment”.

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Clarkson, 64, is now seen on his Diddly Squat Farm for Amazon Prime show Clarkson’s Farm.

But 17 years ago he and co-host James May raced 450 miles across frozen Canadian seas in a modified pick-up truck for a BBC Top Gear special.

Dr Parker, a polar expert, said they “pushed the boundaries of what’s possible”.

Clarkson’s “derring-do” was, she said, reminiscent of pioneers like Robert Scott and Ernest Shackleton.

She wrote in a magazine article: “The Top Gear expedition was a watershed moment in the development of polar research and exploration.

“Light-hearted and comedic as it was, Clarkson and May’s attempt was in many ways in the same tradition of the early pioneers.”

The pair beat their colleague Richard Hammond, who was on a traditional dog sled, to the magnetic North Pole.

Dr Parker said Scott would have loved “navigational aids and motorised vehicles” to reach the South Pole in 1912, adding: “Success meant everything.”

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An amusing Dame Maggie Smith anecdote about Harry Potter and Downton Abbey fans recognising her in public has resurfaced following her death, aged 89

The two-time Oscar winner has died in hospital, her sons Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens have revealed.

In reaction to the news, many fans have begun sharing their fond memories of the star, with one Graham Norton interview proving to be a favourite.

Smith who played Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter series, told Norton in 2015 that she used to get noticed by a lot of “small people who said hello, which was nice”.

She added: “A whole different lot of people know me because of it. It was like I’d never existed before. One child asked me, ‘Were you really once a cat?’ and I heard myself say, ‘Pull yourself together, how could I have been!’”

For the uninitiated, McGonagall could transform herself into a cat in the films.

However, despite the success of the Harry Potter series, Smith told Norton that she only started to be recognised once Downton Abbey, where she played Violet Crawley, became a hit.

“It’s only since Downton that people seem to recognise me,” said the actor. “That’s television for you.

“I was in Waitrose the other day and a little boy was at the checkout with his mother and he kept looking at me. When I asked him, ‘Can I help you?’ he said, ‘No, it’s alright, it’ll come to me in a minute.’ It was so lovely.”

One post on X/Twitter, which featured the interview, called her “one of the undeniable greats of her time”.

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Reactions to the post showered Smith with praise. One fan wrote: “A Grand Lady, she will be missed.”

Another said: “She was a redoubtable woman and a superb actress who just seemed to get better with age.”

A third added: “She was so, so much more than *those* films btw. An Oscar-winning diva!!!”

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In a statement issued via Smith’s publicist, they said: “It is with great sadness we have to announce the death of Dame Maggie Smith.

“She passed away peacefully in hospital early this morning, Friday 27th September.

“An intensely private person, she was with friends and family at the end. She leaves two sons and five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother.

“We would like to take this opportunity to thank the wonderful staff at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for their care and unstinting kindness during her final days.

“We thank you for all your kind messages and support and ask that you respect our privacy at this time.”

Additional reporting by PA.