Prince Harry gave a giant shoutout to military personnel and veterans in a virtual appearance at the seventeenth Annual Stand Up for Heroes profit Monday evening.
The event celebrated servicemen and the Duke of Sussex, 39, who wore his own military medals in a video — just months after he was banned from donning his uniform at his father King Charles’ coronation.
His speech also took place on the identical day that Charles, 74, delivered his first King’s Speech to Parliament within the UK.
In his message, Harry was dressed to the nines in a crisp suit and his medallions.
Three of his British army ribbons were presented to him by his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. His other badge was of a Royal British Legion poppy.
Harry served in the military for 10 years, and underwent two tours in Afghanistan.
In his hilarious monologue, the Invictus Games founder joked about his ginger hair and sardonically quipped about never being criticized.
“Resulting from the shockingly low representation of gingers last 12 months, and out of respect for my fellow endangered species, here I’m, reporting for duty,” he laughed. “As someone who never gets scrutinized, I haven’t even had to organize much.”
“But out of an abundance of caution, I even have been working on this particular act for quite a while and everybody I do know tells me it’s perfect. And no, these aren’t individuals who just tell me what I would like to listen to, these are people like my finance manager, my lawyer, and in fact, my reiki healer,” Harry teased.
The daddy of two then got just a little more serious afterward in his speech, commending the military community.
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, service is what happens within the quiet and the chaos,” he said. “And whether we’re wearing the uniform or not, we must proceed to uphold the values we learned side by side on the bottom, on the drill square and on the battlefield.”
He concluded: “Values of service, values of honor and integrity and values of togetherness and solidarity.”
In May, Charles was formally crowned as monarch of England and the Commonwealth realms.
Controversy erupted at the time over whether Harry would find a way to sport his military uniform for the illustrious event or not.
Harry — who was snubbed with seating at his father’s coronation and was demoted to sitting within the third row — wore an easy black morning suit for the day.
He was also not allowed to wear his military uniform to the Queen’s funeral last September. The rationale for this has been widely attributed to the actual fact that he is not any longer a senior working member of the royal family.
Nevertheless, he did wear the outfit at the Queen’s vigil alongside brother Prince William and their cousins.
Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, moved to California in 2020.