The Prince was greeted by a carnival band, samba dancers and crowds chanting his name as he began the £25 million official drive to capitalise on the Olympic Games and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.
The Prince was introduced by David Beckham, the footballer, via a video link at the launch on Sugarloaf Mountain, which dominates the view of the city. It marks a significant new role for the Prince as a "trade ambassador" for Britain.
But it continued the informal tone of his first foreign tour, which has already taken him to the Caribbean and been considered a triumph by royal aides and diplomats.
Prince Harry joked about his brother and father as he opened a party on the mountain attended by British representatives including Lily Cole, the model, and Marcus Wareing, the chef, and Brazilians including Daniella Helayel, founder of Issa – one of the Duchess of Cambridge's favourite fashion labels – who staged a fashion show.
He climbed to the top of the mountain on a Union-Jack branded cable car before opening the even, which showcased the "best of British" culture and business with James Bond memorabilia, a fashion tent featuring Stella McCartney and Burberry and prestige cars including Bentleys and Aston Martins.
His visit has attracted huge attention in Brazil in a boost to the tourism campaign, called GREAT, which hopes to attract millions of extra tourists from him to “get the party started as only he can”.
He managed to poke fun at Beckham – a friend of the Prince and his older brother – saying "That was David Beckham. Apparently he used to play football."
He then added: “Thank you for a stunning Anglo-Brazilian welcome to your spellbinding city – I've got to get this right – this 'cidade maravilhosa'.
"Over the years, I've seen and heard so much about this extraordinary place – in fact, ever since my father told me about a certain dance he once had with a beautiful girl called Pinah. It just seems to have stuck in his mind for some reason."
The joke was a reference to Prince Charles dancing the samba in Rio in 1978 with Pinah de Beija-Flora, whom he later described as a "rather dramatically semi-naked lady".
The Prince also poked fun at Prince William – with whom he has been exchanging text messages throughout the tour.
He said: "Everything about Rio makes you want to dance. I'm just so thankful that my brother isn't here because he might actually do it – and that would not be cool."
In a relaxed performance, he highlighted the "flourishing partnership with Brazil", one of the world's most dynamic economies, especially in sport.
He is due to play beach volleyball on the sand in Rio later and said: "I can't wait for beach volleyball tomorrow morning. It's my kind of game.
“I'm going to help coach Brazilians to play rugby. One plea to all Brazilians, though: please, please – if we show you how to play rugby – don't do what you've done with football, and leave us wishing we hadn't."
The Prince, accompanied by Rio’s mayor, Eduardo Paes, started his evening with a trip by cable car to Morro da Urca, a plateau on Sugarloaf Mountain where the exhibition stands showcasing the “best of British culture and business” across the technology, retail and sports sectors was hosted.
More than 700 Brazilian “investors”, “artists” and “cultural leaders” attended the event.
When shown the magnificent view of Rio from the top of Sugarloaf Mountain by the mayor, who pointed out all the beaches across the city, he exclaimed “Wow. You’re not short of beaches here, that’s for sure.”
The £25 million GREAT campaign, is a drive to capitalise on the London Olympics and Queen’s Diamond Jubilee this year, aims to attract an extra 4.6 million visitors and an estimated £2.3 billion visitor spend to the UK over the next four years.
Rio is one of 14 key cities have been identified for Britain’s biggest ever tourism campaign, including Mumbai, Sao Paulo, and Shanghai.
Prince Harry met Chris Holmes, Britain’s most successful Paralympic swimmer, the winner of 15 medals and the director of Paralympic Integration for London 2012.
In the “sport” tent, Mr Holmes showed the Prince some of the London 2012 gold medals that have already been struck for this summer’s games.
Prince Harry pointed to one of the medals and said: “That one will be around Usain Bolt’s neck. Actually, it could be round my neck as I beat him the other day.”
The FA Cup was also on display, although the Prince could hardly quite believe it was the genuine article.
“Is that the real one?” he asked. “No, I don’t want to lift it up, I’ll just touch it,” he said, before he was eventually persuaded to brandish the trophy .
Guests at the event dined on a special menu devised by British and Brazilian chefs, Marcus Wareing and Roberta Sudbrack which included traditional British roast beef and Yorkshire pudding canapés.
Prince Harry also toured a presentation of James Bond memorabilia which included Odd Job’s bowler hat and the cable car that featured in the scene of a showdown between the Bond villain Jaws and Roger Moore’s Bond in the 1979 Moonraker.
After his speech, the Prince listened to a live music show featuring a performance by the Brazilian singer Maria Gadu.
The Rio event is the final stage of a tour which has become an unexpected triumph and makes the Prince an international star performer for the Royal Family.
The Prince has also sent a thank-you note to the Governor-General of Jamaica following his three-day tour of the Caribbean island – where his hug with the country's prime minister had ended tensions over her intention to end Queen's role as the former colony's head of state.
He wrote: “Wow! I have totally fallen for Jamaica and its people. The warmth that I received from the moment I set foot on your awesome island has been totally overwhelming.
"In passing on your good wishes to The Queen for her Diamond Jubilee, I can’t wait to tell her all about my three-day visit.
“I have made lifelong friends – and cool ones at that! Please can I come back and visit … lots?”
On Sunday Prince Harry will end his tour of Brazil playing in the Sentebale Polo Cup in Haras Larissa, Campinas, Sao Paulo.
Prince Harry set up his charity Sentebale, in 2006 with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, in memory of their late mothers.
Sentebale, which means “forget-me-not” in the Sesotho language, supports orphans and vulnerable children in the southern African country..
By Roya Nikkhah, Royal Correspondent, in Rio de Janeiro
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk