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The Duke of Sussex visited children in a hospital in Birmingham and was applauded by staff, on the third day of a visit to the UK which had got off to a rocky start.
At Birmingham Children’s Hospital he commended the work of the WellChild charity, of which he is a patron, and which works with children with complex medical needs.
He hugged a nurse and told staff “Thank you for everything you do,” and sympathised with the financial pressures on hospitals, before meeting some of the young patients.
Prince Harry’s team are likely to want to get the UK visit back on track, after the first engagement was overshadowed by his defeat in a court case against Associated Newspapers.
When Prince Harry had begun a speech at the outset of a week of engagements, news had broken that he had lost all of his claims against the publisher of the Daily Mail, with his allegations of unlawful information gathering being dismissed.
That had followed a chaotic war of words, in which Prince Harry’s team had announced he would be staying at Buckingham Palace, only for the Palace to say that the duke had already been told that a stay had been ruled out.
The subsequent event for Prince Harry in London on Wednesday, about the Invictus Games for injured service personnel, was carried out without any press being allowed inside, despite previous plans for coverage
In Birmingham on Thursday, the duke’s hospital visit celebrated the efforts of the WellChild charity, which he has supported for many years, becoming patron in 2007.
On the duke’s visit he met Nicky Holt, one of more than 50 nurses funded by WellChild, whose specialism is working with children who need ventilation to help them breathe.
Prince Harry spoke to some of the young patients and their families on the wards, and told them his son Archie is “obsessed with Lego” and is a “master builder”.
He also told a room full of staff and loved ones: “I don’t know if you hear it enough, the difference that you make every single day is quite literally changing daily lives”.
“I understand, and we understand, that becomes harder every week with cuts and financial difficulties… just the insanity that seems to be circulating, not just in this country but in general.”
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PA MediaEarlier on Thursday, a train with Invictus branding was unveiled at London’s Euston Station, with the name Spirit of Invictus.
The train will run on the route to Birmingham, which will be the host next year for the games, which celebrate the achievements of injured service men and women.
A row over security arrangements meant that Prince Harry did not bring Meghan or their children Archie and Lilibet to events in London, as had been originally planned.
But Prince Harry’s team did not rule out that Meghan and their children might come to the UK later in week – and it’s not yet known whether or not Meghan will appear at events in Birmingham and the Midlands.
That could include an Invictus event at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre on Friday.
There has also been speculation about whether Prince Harry and his wife and children will meet King Charles, but so far no plans for a meeting have been revealed.
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