Here are some photos of Prince Harry on Monday, attending the WellChild Awards in London. Harry did what he always does at this annual event: charmed everyone, spent a lot of time with children, listened to families’ stories and made it all look so effortless. He even did a “swordfight” using balloons with one of the kids. Several royal reporters were allowed into the event, or they were allowed into the press pool on the carpet. Rhiannon Mills, Chris Ship and Roya Nikkhah were all on the ground, posting their own videos of Harry’s arrival. He’s so generous, letting those terrible people near his event.
The last time Harry was in the UK, it was back in April for a court appearance (as part of his security case). Right after that trip, Harry flew to Ukraine, at the invitation of the Ukrainian government, specifically their veterans affairs agency. Harry visited Ukraine’s Superhuman Center for wounded warriors. He received so many special gifts in Ukraine, just as he’s received gifts from various Invictus delegations. One of those gifts? A bracelet from the Superhuman Center. He’s still wearing it as well – photographers got a close-up of Harry’s wrist at the WellChild Awards, and you can see the bracelet.
Instead of focusing on the work of WellChild or Invictus or anything else, all of the reporting seems singularly focused on “will Harry see his father?” This has to be on purpose, right? And here’s something else… Harry has shown that he’s perfectly capable of issuing a statement clarifying whether or not he has plans to see Charles. He has issued no such statement this time around, which means something. I kind of think Buckingham Palace has probably set up some kind of brief meeting between father and son, and they’re the ones hyping this and turning it into the soap opera storyline of Harry’s visit. Even the NYT got involved: “The All-Consuming Question Hanging Over Prince Harry’s U.K. Visit.” All-consuming… for the British press. Katie Nicholl at Vanity Fair wrote: “Sources close to the Duke of Sussex say he has been in touch with his father’s staff in the hope of finding a time in their diaries for a face-to-face meeting.” Ah – Charles is stringing him along so that Harry doesn’t pull a fast one and announce that Charles’s diary is full.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.
