The chair of Britain's Duke of Edinburgh gold award said in Australia the risk of death is part of the award's allure for young people.

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Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh's youngest son, was asked in Sydney about a 17-year-old boy who died of dehydration in 2006 while hiking alone in mountains near Sydney as part of a program to earn the award, which is given to students who undertake a mix of volunteering, skills development and outdoor pursuits, The Guardian reported Friday.

Edward said he was not familiar with the case but spoke of a similar incident in Britain when the awards first started more than 50 years ago.

"All the trustees were convinced that (the boy's death) was the end of it, that it would never go any further," Edward said. "And Lord Hunt, the man who masterminded the first successful ascent of Everest and was first director of the award, said, 'No, no, no, do nothing. Just wait and see. "

The prince said the days following the incident saw a dramatic increase in applicants.

"And the sense of adventure, the sense of excitement, that it gave you that sort of risk element -- young people are like that still, that sense of adventure, the sense that it (death) is possible," he said. "Obviously we don't want that to happen. Certainly it's not our intention: we give them the skills to go out there and do it safely and constructively. It was just that psychology, about what makes young people tick."