This evening in London, Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex attended the WellChild Awards. This is Meghan’s second year attending, and Harry’s 11th – Harry has been Patron of WellChild since 2007.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe WellChild Awards celebrate “the inspirational qualities of the UK’s seriously ill children and young people, along with those who go that extra mile to make a difference to their lives.” This year they honored 15 children, young people, and medical professionals – you can read the bios of each winner here.
Harry and Meghan met with winners before the ceremony. The above little girl is named Lyla-Rose, and she gave Harry and Meghan bracelets. Lyla-Rose is six and she has undergone multiple surgeries for a life threatening brain tumor. I love it when the little kids break out their toy tiaras for this type of event with the royals; they look so cute.
With six-year-old Dexter, above, Harry joked about sitting cross-legged in the chair, and with 11-year-old Milly, Harry and Meghan spoke about how Archie has red hair. That interaction can be seen in the video below starting at 3:33. Meghan says Archie has “reddish-almond” hair and Harry says they can see it in his eyebrows.
Harry gave a bit of an emotional speech at the ceremony, saying:
My wife and I feel incredibly privileged to be able to join you once again at this year’s WellChild Awards, and to be in a room with such amazing human beings. It has been over a decade since I first came to these Awards and every year they never fail to surprise and inspire me. Yet this year, it resonates in a different way, because now I’m a father.
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 squeezing Meghan’s hand so tight during the awards, both of us thinking what it would be like to be parents one day, 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 heart strings in a way I could have never understood until I had a child of my own.
No parent wants to hear that their child will suffer; that they will face extraordinary challenges that will affect them throughout their lives. And yet, after meeting all of the WellChild parents and the kids themselves over the years, you’ve managed to give all of us a sense of optimism, a sense of hope and strength that no professional, no bestselling book and no amount of advice can ever give any of us. So thank you for being you.
All the young people, their families, the nurses, the support staff, here tonight, have demonstrated extraordinary strength, courage and resilience. Never ever underestimate what this means for each other, within your community or further afield. You are all role models, and pretty fantastic ones at that! The stories we have heard tonight – of Mia, of Rhys, Dexter, Emmie, of everyone really – demonstrate exactly why we all support this incredible charity and why we support all of you. Each of you, through your heartfelt commitments, make it possible for these and other children to live the life that they deserve – at home, with their families.
The WellChild Community is bravely addressing isolation and fear because we know that WellChild is not simply about having a well child. It is about having a well parent, a well sibling – a well family. This community’s mission is clear. And in the face of a rapidly growing need, with the charity almost entirely funded through the generosity of donors, we all must continue to amass resources, bring awareness and open our hearts.
So, we are extremely grateful to everyone who has played a part this year in helping the charity achieve its goals. There is obviously so much important work to do and I know that you will continue to support, and to spread the word as we strengthen the WellChild community together. Congratulations once again to all of tonight’s deserving winners – your determination and strength of spirit are an example for all of us.
royal.uk
His speech in full is in the video below.
Meghan wore mostly repeats for this event. She chose her P.A.R.O.S.H. green knee-length bow detail dress (originally $349.00) which she first wore for the engagement photocall and interview, as well as her Sentaler Long Wide Collar Wrap Coat in Camel ($1,295) which she first wore to Christmas 2017, and her Manolo Blahnik BB Suede Pumps ($665.00) which she first wore to the SmartWorks collection launch back in September. Meghan carried a new bag, the Montunas Tortoiseshell Mini Guaria (£365.00). The bag is acrylic with a scarf as a handle. Credit to UFO No More for the IDs on the last two pieces.
I do quite like this dress, so I’m happy to see it return. I got to say, though, while the coat over the shoulders thing is “fashion” I always kind of roll my eyes with it unless it’s in a photoshoot. I’ve done the coat over the shoulders in real life and not only does it not keep me warm, it’s a pain in the butt to keep the coat on my shoulders. Anyhoodles, we’re going to ignore that because thankfully Meghan removed the coat once she got inside the event so we could get a better look at the dress.
Embed from Getty ImagesThere are a couple yearly royal events which are always nice to cover, and the WellChild Awards is one of them, along with Camilla’s Christmas party at Clarence House for ill children. It’s nice to see Meghan accompanying Harry to this, and I hope it continues to be a yearly event for them.
Here are a few more photos.
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