Prince Harry has returned to London to appear onstage at the WellChild Awards, an annual celebration for a charity benefitting seriously ill children and the professionals who help care for them.
The Duke of Sussex, who has been a patron for the charity since 2007, hosted a reception to meet the night’s winners as well as their families at the Royal Lancaster Hotel. It’s one of the few patronages that he has kept since stepping back as a royal in 2020.
The father of two, 40, also presented the Most Inspirational Child Award -— a category for kids aged 4 to 6 — before delivering a speech. He attended without wife Meghan Markle, but did reference their children — Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3.
“The WellChild Awards is an event that never fails to inspire me. The stories of young people who battle against the odds, living lives filled with medical procedures, hospital stays and endless appointments, remind us all of the strength of the human spirit,” he said. “As a parent, I know a little about the emotional rollercoaster of parenting! But when I hear about the care many of you mums, dads, and family members provide, the level of round-the-clock care you offer, the skills you’ve had to learn and the battles for support that you fight every single day, I am truly in awe.”
Prince Harry arrives to the WellChild Awards in London. Victoria Jones/ShutterstockHarry regularly attends the annual event hosted by WellChild, the national charity which provides a nationwide network of nurses, home makeover projects and family support programs.
Last year, the duke honored his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, in a short speech at the ceremony.
Harry posed for photos at the WellChild Awards. Getty Images“As you know, I was unable to attend the awards last year as my grandmother passed away,” he told the audience. “As you also probably know, she would have been the first person to insist that I still come to be with you all instead of going to her.”
WellChild is a national charity supporting seriously ill children and their families. Getty Images
Harry spoke at the WellChild Awards in 2023. PA Images via Getty ImagesHe continued: “And that’s precisely why I know, exactly one year on, she is looking down on all of us tonight, happy we’re together continuing to spotlight such an incredible community.”
In 2022, Harry attended the ceremony via video link as he chatted to the winners and apologized for not being able to attend the event following his grandmother’s death.
And while Harry is back on home soil, it doesn’t mean he will be meeting up with his estranged family.
Harry onstage at the WellChild Awards in 2023. PA Images via Getty Images
Harry presented Violet Seymour with the Inspirational Child award in 2023. PA Images via Getty ImagesThe duke’s father, King Charles, is in Scotland with Queen Camilla.
Prince William, however, is in London — though a reunion is likely not in the cards for them after the feuding brothers did not speak during their run-in at their uncle’s funeral last month.
Per People, Harry has no plans to see his father, King Charles, 75, or estranged brother while in London. They also didn’t see one another when Harry celebrated 10 years of his Invictus Games in the UK in May.
Harry’s London trip comes just days after he attended several high-profile events in New York last week.
The royal had been visiting the Big Apple to “advance a number of his patronages and philanthropic initiatives” in the city.
The Duke of Sussex at the awards in 2023. Alan Chapman/Dave Benett/Getty ImagesHe was given additional security personnel after he and his wife, Meghan Markle, had a nearly “catastrophic” paparazzi car chase in New York City in May 2023.
In addition to his philanthropic efforts, Harry was also spotted visiting a high-end tattoo shop on the Lower East Side.
Later that week, he appeared on the “Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” where the pair cursed up a storm and screamed in fear at a haunted maze in the Big Apple.






