In honor of the 75th anniversary of D-Day, Prince Harry visited the Royal Hospital in London today to meet with veterans and pensioners.
The new father to 1-month-old baby Archie was dressed in military garb and gave a touching speech to the crowd about the servicemen and women who gave their lives during WWII and other conflicts. The speech comes one day after his gran Queen Elizabeth gave a very moving speech for D-Day in which she quoted her father, King George VI.
Of course, Harry couldn't help but throw in a dad joke (now that he's officially one himself).
"Both your founder, King Charles II, and Sir Christopher Wren himself would be delighted to know that the institution which opened its doors to the first Pensioners over 325 years ago continues to fulfill its original purpose of giving exceptional care to soldiers in retirement," Harry said.
"They’d also be amused to hear about the late-night cricket in the hallways!" he said. "Much less the serenading by Colin, who I am told is Royal Variety standard, but let’s assume they haven’t seen your synchronized buggy drill quite yet!"
Late-night cricket? Synchronized buggies (aka wheelchairs, for us non-Brits)?! And who the heck is Colin, and why is he serenading the hospital patients? This sounds more like a night at the pub than a senior care facility.
The 34-year-old duke admitted to going to the pubs himself, when he referenced seeing some of the veterans and retired soldiers at various events and local establishments in London.
"You will always stand out in your scarlet coats and white gloves, but to me, whether I see you at Westminster Abbey, the Chelsea Flower Show, Twickenham Stadium or the pub, I notice that you are always smiling," Harry said.
"Don’t ever underestimate the joy that you bring to everyone you meet," Harry continued. "You represent something really quite special, you are special, and society will always recognize that. That is an important part of your legacy."
Read the duke's full speech here, and watch the video above starting at minute-mark 1:00 to see Harry's delivery.
