Prince Harry makes cryptic comment about ‘challenging’ sibling relationships at the WellChild Awards – as Duke’s visit to Britain is overshadowed by family rift

Prince Harry has spoken about the ‘challenging’ relationship between siblings as his latest visit to Britain was overshadowed by the ongoing rift with the Royal Family.

The Duke of Sussex paid tribute in London to the seriously ill children and young people recognised by the charity WellChild as a ‘beacon of hope and inspiration’.

During a reception with the award winners ahead of the presentations, Harry joked and laughed with the seriously ill youngsters and chatted to Declan Bitmead, 17.

The boy from Oxted in Surrey won the inspirational young person 15-18 years award – and Harry was told he had a younger brother when the royal asked about siblings.

‘Does he drive you mad?’ asked the Duke, and Declan replied ‘no, we get on fine’ – and Harry quipped with a smile ‘you know what – siblings’.

When told the 17-year-old and his brother went to the same school, the duke said ‘you’re at the same school, that sometimes makes it more challenging’.

Harry and his estranged brother Prince William both attended Eton College in Berkshire at the same time, with Harry joining William in 1998, three years after William began studying there.

Declan suffered permanent sight impairment and lost 96 per cent of his skin after developing a rare and life-threatening reaction to a common tonsillitis treatment.

Harry joked with the teenager and made him smile, after being told by the schoolboy he did not have much sight, by saying he was lucky not to see him as: ‘I’m bald and ginger and worst of all I’ve got a ginger beard – you’re thinking phew.’

The Duke also enjoyed a balloon sword fight with nine-year-old Gwen Foster after the Inspirational Child aged 7-11 winner, born with spina bifida and hydrocephalus, challenged him to a duel with the toys made by a balloon sculptor.

The little girl, from Horley, presented him with tiny football shirts of her favourite teams for his children, Wigan Athletic for Lillibet, aged four, and six-year-old Archie was gifted a Brighton and Hove Albion top.

Harry ended the night of celebration at the Royal Lancaster Hotel by telling the award winners to ‘keep fighting. Keep smiling’ as the charity honoured their efforts to succeed and thrive despite life-threatening conditions.

The Duke, who is WellChild’s patron, told the winners during the presentation ceremony ‘this is your moment’.

He added: ‘While we reflect on 20 years of these awards, the truth is that you are the story. You are the reason we gather here.

‘Each of you is a beacon of hope and inspiration, not just to those in this room, but to the nation. Keep fighting. Keep smiling. And above all, keep showing us what strength, courage and joy really look like.’

Harry is making a rare trip to the UK to carry out a string of charity and other engagements, and began his visit by earlier commemorating the third anniversary of the death of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, by laying flowers at her resting place at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.

While he was remembering the late Queen, his estranged brother William was in the same county just seven miles away, paying tribute to their grandmother at a Women’s Institute gathering in Sunningdale, an organisation with a close association with Elizabeth.

Sources close to Harry say he wants to ‘focus on the positive, no courtrooms and just do the stuff he loves’ as part of a concerted effort to reset his relationship, not just with the Royal Family but also the British public.

When he chatted to Grace Tutt, 13, from Sevenoaks – who is wheelchair-bound after a bus crash, the Special Recognition winner turned the tables after his flurry of questions and asked the duke for Netflix recommendations. 

Harry said he and wife Meghan, who live in California after stepping down as working royals, watch political thriller Hostage together and he also enjoys the reality TV show Love Is Blind. 

In an interview with a past WellChild winner who is hoping to break into television, Harry marked the 20th anniversary of the awards by saying: ‘I have always said for many years that I still have a child inside of me, and I think all of us do, and being amongst these kids brings that out of me.

‘I think out of all of the qualities that these kids have, without question, their resilience – top still.’

But William and Harry could not have been further apart yesterday, on the third anniversary of the Queen’s death.

Despite at times being just seven miles – less than 15 minutes’ drive – away from each other on UK soil at last, the estranged brothers did not meet.

Indeed, they paid almost simultaneous, yet very much solo, tributes to the late monarch, who passed away at Balmoral Castle on September 8, 2022. 

Harry – who is on a rare four-day visit to his country of birth – headed straight from Heathrow Airport to privately lay a wreath on the late Queen’s grave at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.

Meanwhile, William, accompanied by the Princess of Wales, was on an official visit to the Women’s Institute at nearby Sunningdale – an iconic British organisation proudly supported by his grandmother for 80 years.

While it is a coincidence that Harry’s trip to the UK, his longest for three years, began on such a poignant anniversary for the Royal Family, the visit has only served to emphasise the ongoing gulf between the brothers.

William, understandably in the eyes of many, has no intention – as it stands – of building bridges with his younger brother after years of deeply personal and, at times, inexplicably vicious attacks.

The King – who spent the anniversary of his accession quietly in Scotland with his wife, Queen Camilla – remains equally hurt and wary.

Buckingham Palace refused to confirm whether he will met Harry this week for the first time in more than 18 months.

Harry, who remains fifth in line to the throne, landed on a scheduled flight from his adopted home of California at Heathrow at around 10am yesterday, accompanied by two private US bodyguards.

He was met at its VIP Windsor Suite, normally used by working royalty, by another bodyguard in an unmarked car.

The vehicle left at 11.15am and whisked the prince to Windsor Castle, around ten to 15 minutes drive away, where he was taken to his grandmother’s grave, situated in the private King George VI Memorial Chapel.

Onlookers said they believe the chapel was closed to the public for around 20 minutes to allow Harry, 40, to make his visit in private, suggesting special permission had been sought, and given, for the visit. He departed at 11.53am.

In light of his defeat in the UK courts over the withdrawal of his round-the-clock security on quitting as a working royal, Harry is accompanied by a private team. Scotland Yard are understood to be aware of his visit and liaising with them.

His decision to take His Majesty’s Home Office to court over the loss of his taxpayer-funded security detail following his departure from the UK has been one of the reasons cited for his estrangement from his father.

Harry, has long maintained that his own life, as well as the lives of his family, are at risk in this country without it. Indeed, he insists it is still too dangerous for him to bring his wife and children here, although he is willing to ‘take that risk’ personally.

The Home Office and the Met say they are willing to offer the king’s son ‘bespoke’ protection on a case-by-case basis, if given advance notice.

Earlier this year Harry – who was left with an estimated £1million legal bill, as well as running up costs to British taxpayers of more than £650,000 – claimed his court defeat was an ‘establishment stitch-up’.

The Prince and Princess of Wales yesterday went to Sunningdale, a 15-minute drive from their Adelaide Cottage home on the Great Windsor Estate, where they joined the ladies of the Women’s Institute, an organisation of which the late Queen was a member for 80 years.

Intriguingly, William had intended to attend on his own, until it was revealed at the last minute that his wife, chic in a stunning Alessandra Rich grey tartan dress with matching heels, had decided to join him.

The couple were greeted with undisguised delight. Over tea and cakes – and a lot of laughter – they chatted with members, William admitting he couldn’t believe it was three years since his grandmother’s death. Acknowledging his proximity to the racecourse which hosts Royal Ascot each year, he said: ‘I think she would have loved a few more wins. She was very upset that she couldn’t win a few more times.’

He also spoke about his young family. Asked by Nina Derrick whether his youngest, Prince Louis, was ‘a bit of a handful’, the prince defended the royal livewire, saying: ‘He’s a character but he’s a very good boy. He likes to wind his brother and sister up.’

When it was pointed out that George appeared to be the sensible one, the prince replied: ‘When George is behind closed doors it’s completely different. George just knows how to behave.’

The couple appeared to be enjoying their visit so much that it overran by 25 minutes, although some noted the delay also ensured that Harry had been safely chaperoned out of Windsor two minutes before they left.

With the Wales’ back at Adelaide Cottage, it was Harry who was in the spotlight again later in the day – at the WellChild Awards.

Harry then visited the Community Recording Studio (CRS) in Nottingham today; while William went to meet members of a youth organisation in Lambeth, South London.