Prince Harry Gives Rare Comments About Archie And Lilibet During Charity Chat
The Duke of Sussex dialed in for a video call with several winners of the WellChild Awards, which honor children living with chronic illness.
Prince Harry is back in the U.S. after attending the funeral services for his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, last month. But his heart continues to be with the U.K. charities he supports.
Last week, the Duke of Sussex, 38, had the opportunity to meet the winners of the 2022 WellChild Awards, which honors seriously ill children and celebrates the resilience of their families and support systems. Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, 41, were set to attend the charity’s awards ceremony in September before the Queen’s death.
During a video chat, Prince Harry spoke with the honorees and shared updates about his own children — 3-year-old Archie and 1-year-old Lilibet.
While introducing himself to a little boy named Henry and his parents, Siobhan and Ben, Harry explained that his name is actually Henry, as well.
“But everyone calls me Harry. I have no idea why,” he said in a video uploaded to WellChild’s YouTube page.
When Siobhan and Ben informed Harry that he was the “inspiration” for their son’s name, the royal covered his face in embarrassment and asked, “How’d that happen?”
The nearly 5-year-old Henry showed off his trophy and continued to chat with the Archewell co-founder, who joked, “You sounds just like my son, Archie, with that little squeaky voice.”
Henry — who was born with serious health problems affecting his ability to breathe, eat and speak — then asked Harry how Archie and Lilibet are doing and the proud dad replied, “They’re doing great!”
“To answer your question, Henry, Archie is very, very busy,” Harry said with a smile. “And Lili is learning to use her voice, which is great.”
Prince Harry and his family.
While chatting with another family and their service dog, Harry shared updates on his own pets, saying, “I’ve got three in this house now, so we basically have five children.”
“I’ve got a black Labrador called Pula, a rescue beagle called Guy and we’ve got another rescue beagle called Mia,” he continued. “Between the three of them, they drudged around chasing the squirrels every day, but they are also emotional support dogs when they’re behaving.”
Prince Harry is a WellChild Patron and supports the charity from afar.
"Every year, I look forward to honoring the incredible recipients of the WellChild Awards, and I encourage everyone in the UK to get involved this year,” he previously said. “The last two years have been hard on everyone, but for these families far harder than most.”
Yasmeen Crowther, mom to 10-year-old honoree Shakeerah, said of Prince Harry’s kindness: “The Duke of Sussex made us feel at ease, it was as if I was speaking with my best friend. He understood our challenges and wants to make a real difference to the lives of children and their families. He had learnt some words in BSL but still took on the challenge of being taught how to sign his name by a 10-year-old girl!”
No word on if or when Harry and Meghan will be returning to the U.K. anytime soon, but apparently they are trying to make amends with the royals after they stepped back as active members of the family. And, rumor has it, Harry’s highly anticipated memoir might not ever be published.
One thing’s for certain, he still cares very much for his home country.
