Prince Harry tears up at award ceremony as he recalls knowing he was going to be a dad

Prince Harry was overcome with emotion during a speech at an award ceremony Tuesday as he recounted the feeling of knowing he was going to become a parent.

The Duke of Sussex told the story of how he and his wife, Meghan, attended the WellChild Awards last year knowing they were expecting their first child, but no one else did.

He welled up and had to pause his speech for the emotional moment, laughing and apologizing before continuing with his story.

“I remember squeezing Meghan’s hands so tight during the awards,” he said.

“And both of us were thinking what it would be like to be parents one day, and more so what it would be like to do everything we could to protect and help our child should they be born with immediate challenges or become unwell over time.”

He went on to address the crowd of children, their families and carers, telling them that the ceremony “pulls at my heartstrings in a way that I could never have understood until I had a child of my own.”

The WellChild Awards is an annual ceremony run by WellChild, a charity that cares for seriously ill children and young people in the UK.

Harry is a patron of the charity, which works to allow youngsters with exceptional health needs to spend time at home rather than in a hospital.