Last night, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attended the WellChild Awards in London, a ceremony that celebrates exceptional young people with serious illnesses as well as those who care for them. And the event proved emotional for Harry, who's been a patron of the WellChild charity since 2007, as People reports. Last year, Harry and Meghan attended the event as expectant parents, though the general public didn't yet know the happy news. And Tuesday's awards were the royal couple's first as parents to baby Archie. Recalling last year's ceremony as he gave a speech, Harry had to choke back tears.
"Last year, when my wife and I attended, we knew we were expecting our first child—no one else did at the time, but we did—and I remember…" the Duke of Sussex said, before his emotions overcame him. As he swallowed his tears, the audience broke into applause.
The Duke of Sussex delivers his speech at the #WellChildAwards, in association with @GSK. To see the full speech, head over to our Facebook page. ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/snzrpcnlYhOctober 15, 2019
"I remember squeezing Meghan’s hand so tight during the awards, both of us thinking what it would be like to be parents one day," Harry continued. "And more so, what it would be like to do everything we could to protect and help our child should they be born with immediate challenges or become unwell over time."
"And now, as parents, being here and speaking to all of you pulls at my heartstrings in a way I could have never understood until I had a child of my own," he said. Harry! I was not ready for these emotions of a Wednesday morning!
Speaking of baby Archie: Turns out he's inherited his dad's ginger hair. "You can see it in his eyebrows," Harry said at the awards ceremony. Welcome to the club, Archie! Prepare for a lifetime of strangers asking you if you're Irish!
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Emily Dixon is a British journalist who’s contributed to CNN, Teen Vogue, Time, Glamour, The Guardian, Wonderland, The Big Roundtable, Bust, and more, on everything from mental health to fashion to political activism to feminist zine collectives. She’s also a committed Beyoncé, Kacey Musgraves, and Tracee Ellis Ross fan, an enthusiastic but terrible ballet dancer, and a proud Geordie lass.
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