After the blow of Prince Harry's High Court case being dismissed, the royal looked upbeat and back on top form on Thursday as he visited Birmingham Children’s Hospital to celebrate 20 years of the charity WellChild’s specialist nursing programme. Nurses flocked around him for photos, and he spent time chatting to patients and families, and during one of the chats he even made a rare comment about his own son, Prince Archie, who has not travelled to the UK with him.
During a meet with 12-year-old Alec Hill, Harry revealed a skill that his seven-year-old son has. "Do you know who’s obsessed with Lego? My son Archie – and he's a master builder," the father-of-two said.
© Getty ImagesThis is a rare comment about Archie as both he and Lilibet live full-time in the United States, and last came to the UK in 2022.
It is not yet known whether his children and wife Meghan Markle could join him in the UK.
Why is Prince Harry in the UK?
The Duke has flown over to mark the one-year countdown to his Invictus Games, which is being hosted in Birmingham next year. During his stay, he is carrying out a number of engagements for causes close to his heart, which included him stopping by at the Children's Hospital as he is a WellChild patron.
During his hospital visit the royal told a room of the charity's executives, nurses and families: "I don’t know if you hear it enough, the difference that you make every single day is quite literally changing daily lives."
© POOL/AFP via Getty ImagesHe added: "I understand, and we understand, that becomes harder every week with cuts and financial difficulties… just the insanity that seems to be circulating, not just in this country but in general.
"But hospitals like this don’t run without people like you, and families like this can’t be families that they want to be at home without the expertise and the skill set that you’re handing over to them, and WellChild is right at the centre of that."
© UK Press via Getty ImagesOn Thursday, amid Harry's outing, Prince William was at the beach in Hastings for his own engagements and King Charles and Queen Camilla were getting hands-on at ZSL London Zoo. It remains to be seen if the royal family will find time in their busy schedules to meet with Harry while he is in town.
