Prince Harry chokes up over baby Archie during speech at WellChild Awards

The Duke of Sussex has choked up on stage during an emotional speech at a charity awards night in London.

Prince Harry has choked up while speaking about becoming a father during a speech at a charity event in London.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attended the WellChild Awards on Tuesday night, which celebrates the inspiring qualities of Britain’s seriously ill children.

The couple arriving at the event. Picture: Toby Melville - WPA Pool/Getty Images

During the event, Harry took the stage and delivered an emotional speech about last year’s ceremony, at which the couple had secretly known they were expecting a baby.

Harry choked up as he spoke about becoming a father.

At one point, he became visibly overcome with emotion and had to be briefly consoled by the host.

“They (the awards) never fail to inspire me — but this year it resonates in a different way because now I’m a father. Last year when my wife and I attended we knew that we were expecting our first child, no one else knew, but we did,” he said.

“I remember squeezing Meghan’s hand so tight during the awards and both of us thinking what it would be like to be parents one day and more so what would it be like to protect and help our child should they be born with immediate challenges or become unwell over time.”

He had to take a few seconds to compose himself.

Harry and Meghan announced the pregnancy last September, and welcomed baby Archie in May this year.

“And now talking to all of you as parent pulls at my heart strings, in a way I never could have 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,” the Duke continued in his speech at this year’s event.

“After meeting all the WellChild kids and parents over the years you have managed to give us a sense of optimism, of hope and of strength that no professional, no bestselling book or advice could ever give us — so thank you for being you.”

Earlier in the evening, all eyes were on the Duchess as she recycled the $873 P.A.R.O.S.H dress she first wore for her engagement interview with Harry in 2017, which she teamed with the $2241 Sentaler coat she donned for her first Christmas church service at Sandringham.

Harry and Meghan arriving at the WellChild Awards. Picture: AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth

She was wearing the same coat she wore on Christmas Day in 2017. Picture: AFP Photo/Adrian Dennis

And it was the same dress she wore for her engagement interview with Harry in November 2017.

It was the couple’s first joint public appearance in London since Harry released an extraordinary public statement attacking the British press over its treatment of Meghan and launched legal action against several publications.