Prince Harry was praised for being “great with kids” in a post showing him getting a hug from a young boy with a debilitating medical condition.

The Duke of Sussex has been patron of the British charity WellChild for around 16 years and attended their annual awards at the Dorchester Hotel, in London, in October 2016.

The prince, who turns 40 on Sunday, was in the early months of his relationship with wife at the time and was just weeks away from their romance becoming public.

During the awards event, he met Ollie Carroll, five, who has rare Batten disease which significantly inhibited his ability to walk.

Harry held Ollie’s hands to help him stand before the youngster stepped forward to give the prince a hug.

A clip of the moment was posted to TikTok with the message: “Prince Harry, the people’s prince, has always been great with kids.”

In the video, Harry told Ollie “you’ve been amazing” before asking: “Does he cuddle everybody?” He was told: “Not everybody.”

One reply on TikTok read: “Full of love and empathy, just like his beautiful mum Diana 😍.”

Another wrote: “Special human being. Not even the British media can change him. 💚”

A third reply said: “How can you not love, ? He is his mama’s boy. All heart and compassion for everyone.”

Harry had reason to be in good spirits as his relationship with Meghan was becoming more serious.

In fact, by the time the month ended, news of their romance had reached the Sunday Express newspaper in Britain, sending royal fans around the world into a frenzy.

At the time though, it was Harry and Meghan’s secret and he gave no clues about their burgeoning love to those present.

Ollie’s mother Lucy told the afterward that her son “was thrilled—they both were” and added that he “used his strength to stand up and hug him [Harry]” despite not being able to stand independently.

The prince described himself during the visit as “in awe at the strength of human character, particularly amongst those so young.”

“Watching these children and young people face challenges with such determination, positivity and of course, good humor, never fails to take my breath away,” he added.

Harry also got a chance during the event to get a cheeky dig in at , with whom he was on far better terms at the time.

Young carer Jessica Davis, 10, described how she helped look after her mother Paula, who has MS, and autistic brother William, who she said was “really embarrassing.”

“He then said that Prince William was embarrassing all the time,” she told the BBC.

Such remarks would now be considered the latest conflict in their long-running rift, though back then they were still getting on well and this kind of light hearted banter was not out of the ordinary.

Williams Brown is chief royal correspondent for Regalrumination.com, based in London. You can find him on X, formerly , at and read his stories on Regalrumination.com‘s

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