Prince Harry Surprises Attendees At The WellChild Awards In London

Jul 01, 2021 by apost team

Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has been a longtime patron of the WellChild Awards, a charity for seriously ill children. He recently joined a private garden party meant to celebrate remarkable children, teenagers, and carers from across the United Kingdom. This event occurs once a year, and although it is usually a larger ceremony, this year's was a smaller, more intimate affair. It took place outdoors at London's Kew Gardens and carefully followed coronavirus guidelines in order to keep the vulnerable children with pre-existing conditions in attendance safe.

Having weathered his mandatory by law five-day quarantine on Windsor Castle grounds in Frogmore Cottage and concluding it with a negative COVID-19 test, Prince Harry was officially cleared to join the ceremony and meet the other charity patrons—one of which included famous musician, Ed Sheeran—so that he could spend time talking to each award recipient and their families over the course of afternoon tea during the celebration.

Harry, who is primarily visiting London to attend the unveiling of a new statue meant to celebrate the life of his mother, the much remembered Princess Diana, cheered exuberantly as awards were presented to attendees under a number of special categories. These include the category Inspirational Child, which saw winners Carmela Chillery-Watson, 7, and Anzah Arwani, 11; the category Inspirational Young Person, which was one by William Cuthill, 13, and Luke Fisher, 17; and the category Young Carer winners, which went to Isaac Vials Moore, 10, and Gracie Davis, 13.

Read on to hear what he had to say and which remarkable young persons he met.

The WellChild Awards have been close to Prince Harry's heart for years now and are often one of the biggest highlights of his yearly work. There was no way he was going to miss out on the 2021 ceremony this year, so he and charity officials timed his visit to London accordingly. During his speech at the event, Prince Harry looked back on his 14 years as a patron of the well-beloved national charity and remarked that, as a young father, his work has become even more important to him over the last years as he gained a whole new perspective of the charity's work:

"Since becoming patron of WellChild in 2007, this organization and the people within it have held an extraordinarily special place in my heart. I wasn't a father at the time, and yet the stories of these children and parents transcended that. I didn't need to be a dad to feel the impact of this invaluable work. Now as a father of two, I feel all the more connected, inspired and in awe of the resilience of these families, who power through indescribable challenges with the support of WellChild."

He continued further, speaking about the extraordinary challenges the last year and a half have imposed on children and parents alike and how much meeting this year's award winners meant to him: "I could not be prouder to be here, to meet this year's WellChild Award winners, to thank the nurses and doctors for all they do, and to celebrate these amazing families."

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In addition to helping celebrate and draw attention to the resilience and hardships of children living with serious illnesses or other complex conditions, Prince Harry also chatted with children and carers alike about how the past months during a pandemic had changed their lives and affected the support they received during this time.

The prince spent time with seven-year-old Carmela, winner of the Inspirational Child award, and heard about her experience living with congenital muscular dystrophy, an inheritable condition that can range from slow to very severe progression. A severe type usually means children afflicted with it live only to their late teens as the condition weakens skeletal and respiratory muscles, causing heart defects and lung problems among heavy chronic pain. Patients continously grow weaker as the condition progresses, losing their ability to walk and perform any physical work or exertion more and more. It is always fatal and currently incurable, although research is ongoing.

During COVID lockdown in the UK, Carmela completed a series of self-imposed challenges at her home, one of which was a 2.6-mile marathon in her garden, meant to help raise awareness for her condition and roughly $69,000 (after conversion) for the Muscular Dystrophy UK charity. Her mother Lucy joined her daughter for a 30-day, 300-kilometer Wonder Woman Walk and was reported as saying: "Carmela never complained once about her pains and discomforts. Just seeing the fundraising money increase was enough for her." 

Prince Harry also talked with the other children present, listening to their stories and offering encouragement where he could. Later today, the prince is expected to take part in the unveiling of his mother's statue together with Prince William.

Had you heard about the WellChild Awards? Do you or a family member or close friend have a special needs child and experience? What do you think about Prince Harry's engagement for the charity? Tell us what you think and pass this story along!