Emotional Prince Harry says late Queen is ‘looking down on us’
Prince Harry has returned to London without Meghan Markle while paying tribute to the Queen on the eve of her anniversary death, as Prince William’s spotted ahead of tribute.
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Prince Harry paid an emotional tribute to his late grandmother the Queen, on the eve of the first anniversary of her death, telling young charity award winners she would be “looking down” on them.
The Duke of Sussex paid homage to his grandmother while attending the WellChild Awards in London without wife Meghan Markle, whom he said was “very upset” not to be travelling with him.
The former royal praised the seriously ill children being honoured at the Awards a year after he was forced to pull out of the annual event, after he made a quick dash to Balmoral as the late Queen’s health deteriorated.
“As you know, I was unable to attend the awards last year as my grandmother passed away,” he said at the charity event.
“As you also probably know, she would have been the first person to insist I still come to be with you all instead of going to her, and that’s precisely why I know, exactly one year on, she is looking down on all of us tonight – happy we are together – continuing to spotlight such an incredible community.”
The Duke of Sussex told one family his wife was “very upset that she couldn’t be here” - ahead of a “busy week” for the couple, who will attend the Invictus Games in Germany next week.
Prince Harry appeared relaxed as he sat with seriously ill children and their families during a pre-ceremony reception at The Hurlingham Club.
It was the first time the Duke had been seen in the UK since his high-profile legal case at the High Court against Mirror Group Newspapers earlier in the year.
"She would've been the first person to insist that I still come to be with you all instead of going to her." Prince Harry honours his late grandmother Queen Elizabeth one year on from her passing. Full story here: https://t.co/sYCLyZIKHbpic.twitter.com/4aKNQywjnD
— HELLO! (@hellomag) September 7, 2023
It comes as five retired British police officers have plead guilty to sending offensive and racist social media messages about Prince Harry’s wife, the Duchess of Sussex, and others.
The men, all in their 60s, were arrested after a BBC investigation last year sparked an internal police inquiry.
The charges say messages posted in a closed WhatsApp group referred to Harry and wife Meghan, as well as Prince William and his wife, Kate, and the late Queen Elizabeth II and her late husband, Prince Philip.
Robert Lewis, Peter Booth, Anthony Elsom, Alan Hall and Trevor Lewton pleaded guilty on Thursday local time at London's Westminster Magistrates’ Court to sending by public communication grossly offensive racist messages.
All are former members of London’s Metropolitan Police department and spent time with the force’s Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection branch, which guards politicians and diplomats.
PRINCE WILLIAM STEPS OUT TO SUPPORT THE HOMELESS AHEAD OF QUEEN TRIBUTE
Prince William was spotted wearing an apron and helping prep food for the homeless, ahead of a tribute to his grandmother, the Queen, on the anniversary of her death.
The Prince of Wales was at Pret A Manger in Bournemouth, checking on the progress of his Homewards campaign, and talking to businesses that pledged support.
The campaign was launched in June, with the ambitious goal of ending homelessness by facilitating collaboration across all sectors of society.
Prince William prepared food along with some of the participants of the Pret’s Rising Stars program, which helps support the disadvantaged into employment.
Prince William spoke with representatives from eight national and local businesses about their pledges, including a commitment by cafe firm Pret A Manger to expand The Pret Foundation’s Rising Stars program.
The new goal is to support at least 500 people experiencing or at risk of homelessness into jobs at their shops over the next five years.
PRIME MINISTER PAYS TRIBUTE TO THE QUEEN
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said his thoughts were with His Majesty King Charles III and the whole Royal Family, on the anniversary of the passing of the Queen.
“With the perspective of a year, the scale of Her Late Majesty’s service only seems greater. Her devotion to the nations of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth only seems deeper. And our gratitude for such an extraordinary life of duty and dedication, only continues to grow,” Mr Sunak said.
“I treasure my memories of those occasions when I met Her Late Majesty, in particular the private audience I had with her at Buckingham Palace before presenting my first Budget as Chancellor. I was struck by her wisdom, by her incredible warmth and grace, but also her sharp wit.
“People across the UK – whether they had the good fortune to meet Her Late Majesty or not – will be reflecting today on what she meant to them and the example she set for us all. We will cherish those memories.
“The bond between country and monarch is sacred. It endures. So, while we continue to mourn Her Late Majesty’s passing, we should be proud that this remarkable legacy of service – and this remarkable bond – continues to grow today under the reign of His Majesty The King.”
CHARLES, WILLIAM ‘NO TIME’ TO SEE HARRY
The Duke of Sussex was in London to attend the annual WellChild Awards, a charity of which he has been patron for 15 years, before flying to Germany and meeting the Duchess of Sussex for the Invictus Games.
He was not expected to meet with his father or his brother during his brief visit, with King Charles said to have “no time in his diary” for his youngest son, while the Prince of Wales is said to not have had contact with his brother in “months”.
It’s been said that an invitation to the Royal Family’s annual get-together at Balmoral was not extended to Prince Harry and Ms Markle this year.
The Sussexes were also booted out of Frogmore Cottage, their Windsor base, and royal insiders said it remained unclear whether the Royal Family offered him any other accommodation during his stay.
And a reconciliation appears a way off, particularly after Prince Harry again seemed to criticise his family publicly during his Netflix docuseries on the Invictus Games, which he founded to support wounded military veterans.
The Duke claimed he had “no support structure” to help him cope with the tragic death of his mother in 1997, when he was just 12 years old.
“The biggest struggle for me was no one around me really could help,” he said.
“I didn’t have that support structure, that network, or that expert advice to identify what was actually going on with me.”
REMEMBERING THE QUEEN
Prince Harry’s visit to the UK comes as the Prince and Princess of Wales prepare to lead tributes to the late Queen Elizabeth II, while the king privately reflects on the “sadness” of losing his “dear mama” a year ago to the day.
The royal couple will visit communities in south Wales after attending a service at a cathedral Her Majesty once historically visited.
Prince William is not expected to speak at the ancient church in St David’s, the UK’s smallest city.
It is unclear if he and wife Princess Catherine will release a public message to commemorate the late monarch.
King Charles - who is spending the British summer recess at the royal Balmoral Castle estate in Aberdeenshire with Queen Camilla - has chosen to privately reflect on his mother’s memory at Crathie Kirk church, the regular place of worship of the British royal family, in the nearby Scottish village of Crathie.
The King and Queen are expected to be joined for a private service by his sister Anne, the Princess Royal, and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence.
By marking the anniversary in this way, the monarch is following in the footsteps of his late mother, who almost always spent her accession day – February 6 – at Sandringham.
“The royal family has chosen not to make a public fuss about the Queen’s death, it is essentially a very sad day and one they want to reflect on quietly, away from the public eye,” royal correspondent and author Robert Jobson said.
“The year since the Queen died has passed quickly and a lot has changed for the royal family, particularly for the King who ascended the throne upon her passing.
“The family has coped well with the onslaught from Prince Harry and the British population has sympathised with the monarch.”
St David’s Cathedral has been a site of pilgrimage and worship for more than 1400 years.
The present cathedral dates from 1181 and welcomes around 300,000 visitors every year.
William and Catherine will join a short private service there, which will include a commemoration of the Queen’ life, before meeting members of the local community in the adjacent cloister including local people who met her during visits to the city.
Later in the day they will visit the Câr-Y-Môr Seaweed Farm – the first ‘regenerative ocean farm’ in Wales and a key partner of Notpla, a sustainable packaging start-up and winner of the 2022 Earthshot Prize for ‘Build a Waste-Free World’.
The Earthshot Prize was set up by the Wales’s to search for extraordinary solutions to the world’s greatest environmental challenges.
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Originally published as Emotional Prince Harry says late Queen is ‘looking down on us’
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