Prince Harry met seriously ill children and nurses at Birmingham Children’s Hospital today as his five-day visit to Britain continued without wife Meghan Markle.
The Duke of Sussex went round the wards as he marked the 20th anniversary of the hospital’s WellChild Nurse programme, having been patron of the charity for 18 years.
Harry, who arrived in London on Monday, has not been joined in the UK by Meghan or their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet due to ongoing security concerns.
While Harry was in Birmingham, other members of the Royal Family carried on with a busy series of summer engagements – with the King and Queen making a joint visit to London Zoo to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Zoological Society of London.
The duke’s estranged brother Prince William travelled to Hastings today to meet a fishing community as well as local youth-led and community-driven organisations.
It comes after Harry’s £50million phone hacking case against the Daily Mail was dismissed by a judge on Tuesday in a ‘momentous victory’ for the free Press.
The duke learned at the start of an Invictus Games appearance at Chatham House that he had lost his case over allegations of unlawful information gathering.
The Mail’s journalists were completely exonerated when allegations they hacked, bugged and blagged to get stories were thrown out in full by Mr Justice Nicklin.
The judgment after a three-month trial left Harry, Doreen Lawrence and five fellow claimants, including Sir Elton John, on the hook for millions of pounds in costs.
The Duke of Sussex meets 12-year-old Bilal Mirza at Birmingham Children’s Hospital today
King Charles III and Queen Camilla arrive for a visit to Penguin Beach to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Zoological Society of London, at London Zoo in Regent’s Park this morning
Prince William meets well-wishers during his visit to Hastings in East Sussex today
In Birmingham today, Harry was mobbed by nurses when he visited the hospital and spoke about the ‘financial difficulties’ facing the NHS.
Harry was highlighting WellChild’s specialist nursing programme, helping seriously ill children and their families transition from the hospital to their homes.
His appearance caused excitement in the hospital corridors with nurses and other medical staff surrounding him – and one female medic received a hug.
Families asked for pictures and the duke posed for a group shot with around a dozen nurses, telling them: ‘Thank you for everything you do.’
Harry met two nurses funded by WellChild, which facilitates the early discharge of children by teaching their parents the skills needed to provide care at home, and met some of the young patients.
In a lighter moment the duke revealed his son’s love of toy building bricks when he shared stories with Alec Hill, 12, and his parents.
‘Do you know who’s obsessed with Lego? My son Archie – and he’s a master builder,’ said Harry.
Alec – who was joined by his mother Kelly Hill and father Stuart Hill – has a rare chromosomal condition and a rare immune system disease, and is in a wheelchair as a result of brain damage.
The duke told a room of the charity’s executives, nurses and families: ‘I don’t know if you hear it enough, the difference that you make every single day is quite literally changing daily lives.’
He added: ‘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.
Harry with patient Wyatt Makwana, 12, who was born with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia
Harry meets Birmingham Children’s Hospital patient Alec Hill, 12, who has a chromosomal condition and a rare immune system disease, and is in a wheelchair as a result of brain damage
Prince Harry meets a mother and her child on a visit to Birmingham Children’s Hospital today
‘But hospitals like this don’t run without people like you, and families like this can’t be families that they want to be at home without the expertise and the skill set that you’re handing over to them, and WellChild is right at the centre of that.’
Harry shook hands with patient Bilal Mirza, 12, before sitting down and chatting. The boy was put on life-support after losing capacity in one lung following pneumonia and now has a tracheostomy and speaking valve to communicate verbally.
Bilal’s mother Lubna Bashir; father Imran Mirza; brother Muzammil, ten; and sister Aroosh Mirza, eight, all stood by his bedside as the boy spoke with Harry.
The duke also met 12-year-old patient Wyatt Makwana, who was born with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia, and his father Brian Makwan.
The King’s son had further discussions with WellChild director of programmes Amy Mitchell and Birmingham Children’s Hospital chief executive Matthew Boazman.
The duke, who part-funds the WellChild Nurse scheme, also spoke with Nicky Holt, who became WellChild’s 53rd nurse upon her appointment in October 2024.
Yesterday, the Duke held private meetings without media at the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London yesterday after his High Court defeat against the Daily Mail the day before.
Harry’s five-day solo visit to the UK, which moved to Birmingham today, is part of the ‘One Year to Go’ celebrations for the next Invictus Games in the city in July 2027.
Yesterday, Harry was at the Royal Hospital Chelsea for meetings relating to work by the Invictus Games Foundation, including a summit for international team managers.
They also spoke about plans for the upcoming Invictus Spirit Awards in the capital this September which will honour those involved in the Invictus community.
Meghan had originally been due to attend the Royal Hospital Chelsea, but the plans were switched last week when it was decided she would not visit after all.
Harry was met on arrival yesterday by Invictus Games Foundation trustee and chief executive of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, David Richmond, former competitor Josh Boggi, and Invictus’s deputy chief executive, Richard Smith.
He also joined a strategy session with former Invictus hosts and partners for the future of the Invictus Movement.
Harry attends an Invictus Games event at the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London yesterday
The Duke of Sussex poses in a group shot with those involved in the Invictus Games yesterday
Prince Harry meets with a delegation from Uganda, the newest Invictus Community member
Wearing an open-necked white shirt and dark jacket, the 41-year-old duke was pictured looking relaxed and smiling as he chatted with guests.
He was also shown in the middle of a group shot, taken in the shade next to a wall, amid the sunshine.
No external press were allowed into yesterday’s event after plans for pool media coverage changed the day before – with the decision attributed to the heatwave.
A public-facing moment was allegedly removed from the agenda at the heritage site because of the soaring temperatures and old buildings at the historic venue.
But the California-based duke is allowing pooled media to cover the remaining events this week, including the visit to Birmingham today.
On Monday, it was revealed that the King’s youngest son would miss out on staying at Buckingham Palace after rejecting Charles’s accommodation offer for his family, then accepting too late for himself.
The appropriate hospitality and staffing provision was said to be no longer available, with the Palace suggesting the duke’s longstanding legal case had complicated the matter and could compromise the King’s constitutional position.
The King yesterday met with police officers who dealt with the Bedfordshire train crash at the new British Transport Police headquarters in central London.
He then hosted The King’s Award for Enterprise 2026 at St James’s Palace gardens, alongside the Princess Royal and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.
Meanwhile, Harry’s stepmother the Queen watched from the royal box as British wildcard Arthur Fery stormed into the Wimbledon semi-finals.
There has yet to be any suggestion that Harry will meet with the King during his UK visit. They last met in September 2025 at Clarence House in London.
The Invictus Games is a Paralympics-style event launched by Harry in 2014 to aid the recovery of injured or sick military veterans and servicemen and women.
