The Duke of Sussex showed off his sense of humour in a video filmed at his Montecito home for the 17th Annual Stand Up for Heroes on Monday.
Prince Harry proudly wore his military medals in the video, in which the royal delivered a stand-up style monologue.
“Hello New York,” he began. “Obviously I was deeply honoured when Bob asked me to debut my stand-up act with you all tonight,” he said, referencing journalist Bob Woodruff and the Bob Woodruff Foundation, which hosted the event at Lincoln Center, in New York City in partnership with the New York Comedy Festival.
Harry went on to poke fun at himself, saying: “Due to the shockingly low representation of gingers last year, and out of respect for my fellow endangered species, here I am, reporting for duty.”
The 39-year-old also joked about never being scrutinised, as well as taking advice from a reiki healer. “As someone who never gets scrutinised, I haven’t even had to prepare much,” he said. “But out of an abundance of caution, I have been working on this particular act for quite some time and everyone I know tells me it’s perfect. And no, these aren’t people who just tell me what I want to hear, these are people like my finance manager, my lawyer, and of course, my reiki healer.”
A cough was heard from someone off-camera, and Harry was handed a script. “So, we’re not doing the thing?” he asked, before reading the first sentence. “Thank you for having me to this splendid evening celebrating our incredible veterans.”
© GettyHe then put the paper on the floor, saying: “It’s ok, I got this,” before delivering a more serious message in honour of the military community.
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, service is what happens in the quiet and the chaos,” he said. “And whether we are wearing the uniform or not, we must continue to uphold the values we learned side by side on the base, on the drill square and on the battlefield. Values of service, values of honour and integrity and values of togetherness and solidarity.
© Photo: Getty Images“I know our journeys to this point differ but we are always connected through what we learned as humans, what we faced as families and how we’ve come out stronger because of our ability to listen, to understand, to support one another.”
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Stand Up for Heroes was founded in 2007 by Bob and Lee Woodruff and New York Comedy Festival founders Caroline Hirsch and Andrew Fox, with the aim of raising money to support service members and raise awareness about the tough challenges veterans are facing.
It’s a cause that is close to Prince Harry’s heart as the royal himself served in the military for ten years, including two tours in Afghanistan.
© GettyHe has also worked to raise money for service members and founded the Invictus Games in 2014, which offers a recovery pathway for international wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women.
