There's only one thing better than having five minutes with Prince Harry to chat about his return to the UK – and that's getting another five minutes with him just days later.
It was a real treat to head to the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London on Monday night for another WellChild Awards, one of my favourite events on the HELLO! calendar each year.
As HELLO!'s Chief Content Officer, I'm lucky enough to be invited into the special VIP meet-and-greet area, where, over champagne and canapés, you get a real sense of Harry's personality as he moves from person to person.
© HELLO!But before joining us, Harry had spent a good hour meeting the extraordinary children, parents, carers and nurses being honoured by the charity that evening.
These aren't fleeting handshakes or quick hellos. He stops, listens and gets completely absorbed in their stories. He also makes a point of thanking the people involved for the time, energy and care they give to a cause that clearly means an enormous amount to him.
So when he came into the VIP room afterwards, he practically skipped in. He was buzzing with the energy of the incredible people he had just met. And something I've noticed about Harry at WellChild over the years is that he doesn't leave those encounters behind when he walks away; he carries them with him.
He is genuinely touched by the children he meets, by their stories, their parents, carers and nurses who devote so much of themselves to looking after them. Many of these children are living with serious and, in some cases, life-shortening conditions. It's a night that puts everything in perspective for a lot of people.
© HELLO!There were moments during the evening when Harry was visibly emotional, and later, as he addressed the room, he struggled to hold back tears. It was also a Prince Harry we haven't had many opportunities to see in the UK recently – relaxed, warm and completely at home in an environment that so obviously means a great deal to him.
One particularly sweet moment came when one of the young girls simply wouldn't stop hugging him. There she was, meeting a real-life prince, and she clearly wasn't in any hurry to let him go. This is Harry in his natural habitat and doing something he does exceptionally well.
When he took five minutes out of his evening to speak to us, our conversation naturally turned to his own children, Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five.
Harry admitted that, like parents everywhere, having the children out of school for 11 weeks of summer has its challenges. But spending time with the WellChild families, he said, has a way of putting those everyday frustrations immediately into perspective.
"Once you become a parent, it does change everything," he told us. He also gave us a lovely glimpse into breakfast at home that very morning. Archie and Lili had a case of what their dad described as the "Monday morning blues" and were being, in his words, "a little bit tricky".
So Harry decided to tell them exactly what he would be doing that evening and about the remarkable children he was going to meet at the WellChild Awards. Suddenly, they were fascinated. Harry told us they began asking him all sorts of questions and explained that, through both his work and Meghan's, they are trying to instil that kind of awareness in their children.
It was a small anecdote, but a rather revealing one – a glimpse of Harry trying to pass on to Archie and Lili the empathy and sense of duty that he himself feels so strongly, that he inherited from his mother, Diana.
There were some lighter revelations about family life back in Britain that he shared with us too. Country walks have been on the agenda, along with Harry's ongoing mission to introduce his California-raised children to some great British culinary institutions.
© HELLO!Beans on toast? Rejected. Marmite on crumpets? A triumph! Harry was particularly delighted by the latter. Archie and Lili once teased him for even keeping Marmite in the house, he told us, but now that they're in the UK, they've become converts themselves.
"Now the kids are eating Marmite on crumpets, which is big for me," he joked. Towards the end of our conversation came a comment that perhaps said much more about this new chapter of Harry's life.
"No longer being 5,000 miles away should make it easier to be more available to support the charities that need us," he told us. "And I'm really looking forward to it."
© InstagramAnd we know he means it. During his visit to London in July, we discovered tonight, Harry quietly spent time visiting a hospital to see WellChild nurses and the children and families they support – a private engagement kept away from the press. And now that he is back in Britain, there will be many more opportunities for those low-key moments.
It hasn't exactly been the easiest transition. Harry and his family have returned against the backdrop of plenty of royal drama, from the claims made by his uncle Charles Spencer to the King's announcement that Harry and Meghan are private citizens.
There was also an unexpected complication for the Invictus Games when Uganda temporarily withdrew amid the fallout, before reversing its decision.
© POOL/AFP via Getty ImagesBut having now spent time with Harry twice in a matter of days, what has struck me most is the noticeable spring in his step. He seems energised by being back and by having the people, organisations and causes he cares about within much easier reach.
Perhaps that's why seeing him practically bound into the VIP room after spending an hour with the children and their families felt so significant. This was Harry doing something he has loved doing for almost 20 years.
There was champagne, canapés and a room full of celebs. But the thing I'll remember most was seeing a very familiar Prince Harry again – laughing, hugging, getting emotional and completely absorbed in the extraordinary people around him. And after six years of being 5,000 miles away, he's now got an excuse to do this much more.
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