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On Thursday, Prince Harry and Prince William both went out on engagements, but they couldn’t have been further apart.
In the morning, William made a surprise visit to a Pret a Manger in Bournemouth, a coastal town in Dorset, to help promote the Homewards initiative he launched earlier this year. During his visit, he learned about the restaurant’s Rising Stars program, which provides job training to people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. He put on an apron, got behind the counter, and chatted with the location’s baristas. Later, he greeted famous soccer player Paul Gascoigne, who responded with a kiss to William’s cheek.
In London, a three-hour drive away, Harry donned a suit for a very different type of royal engagement. At the WellChild Awards Thursday evening, the prince put on a suit to meet with honorees representing the charity, which helps to support children with disabilities and their families. Before the ceremony began Harry, who has served as the charity’s patron since 2007, spoke to some of the children who were being honored at the night’s ceremony. Last year he missed the event due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II, but in 2021, he attended an outdoor ceremony for the charity along with his friend Ed Sheeran.
After William and Harry both left their jobs in the army nearly a decade ago and turned to full-time royal work, it was common for the brothers to be on solo engagements across the UK. But in the years since Harry and his wife Meghan Markle left their roles as senior royals in early 2020, both brothers undertaking royal duties has become increasingly rare. Harry’s visits to the UK have been brief and focused on other family members, including his appearance at the coronation of King Charles III in May.
Harry’s trip to the UK is taking place just days before he travels to Düsseldorf to attend the sixth Invictus Games, where he will be joined by Meghan later. Last week, the Daily Mail reported that he had no plans to visit his family during his brief stay in the country and relations between the Los Angeles-based prince and his extended family “remain firmly rooted at rock bottom.”
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