HRH??Prince Harry holding??tiny patient Jean-Luc Jordan, as father Mikail Jordan and Consultant Paediatrician at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Dr. Anne St. John, look on.
It was truly a princely moment for children in the paediatric ward, when Prince Harry, on his first tour of the day, visited the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, an institution named after his grandmother, following an official visit in 1964.
Starting the visit from the nursery-end of the ward, Prince Harry met first with??seven-week-old baby boy, Jean-Luc Jordan and his father Mikail Jordan. He inquired about the health of the child and the expected length of stay in the institution.
This was followed by a tour of the medical and surgical sections of the Paediatric ward, where, along the route the Prince greeted, kissed and held children, as he spoke with parents, physicians, nurses and auxiliary staff about the care provided on the ward. ??He was even serenaded by a young patient who did her own version of "Umbrella", the Grammy-award winning tune of Barbados’ megastar Rihanna.
Moments later, seven-year old Selwyn Sivers told the Barbados Government Information Service (BGIS) that he was excited about meeting Prince Harry and would tell him "Welcome to Barbados" and inquire whether he was "a great polo player?" ??His mother, Joan Best noted that she too was elated and would tell the Prince, "Welcome and come back again."??
Acknowledging that she saw it as "a great moment" for them, Ms. Best said, "I never thought I would live to see the day that I would meet somebody so high [in standing]." She stressed that she would treasure the moment and any pictures she could have of their meeting.
When it was time for the Prince to finally meet the two, they thanked him for seeing them. He asked Selwyn if he liked sports or cricket to which he remarked smilingly, "No… I like football."??????
Following his visit, Prince Harry presented a gift of over 40 musical CDs to Consultant Paediatrician, Dr. Anne St. John for the children’s enjoyment. The collection included the latest album "Rated R" from Rihanna. ??
The royal heir also spoke to the BGIS and the British media, at the end, about his love for children. As he responded, to a question which compared him to his late mother, Princess Diana, Prince Harry said: "I don’t know if I can follow in her footsteps, but I know that I would always try to achieve what she achieved in the short time that she did. I guess like mother like son, like father like son, and if she… had that motherly touch to young children, then I am obsessed with children.
"…They (the kids) are great fun. I could never really say ???No’ to them.?? I don’t know; there are places like this in Africa, where the kids are always so happy and so grateful for the smaller things in life, so you can’t fail to get this huge fulfillment and be happy after spending some time with little kids like Tyrell…As long as I can, I will always try to stick with children as much as I can. No matter how old I am, I will always have the kid inside of me… and I think the longer I spend with children I will remember that kid inside of me more…"??????????
jgill@barbados.gov.bb????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????