The Duke of Sussex came face-to-face with a mini version of himself when he met young WellChild award winners ahead of a prize-giving ceremony.

When he walked into the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London he was met with a barrage of questions from the media including “Have you spoken to your uncle in the last few days?”, but did not respond.

The awards ceremony comes after the serialisation of his uncle Earl Spencer’s book about Harry’s mother Diana, Princess of Wales.

Charles Spencer has made a series of allegations about the King including a claim that the monarch said “we’ll forget her soon enough” after Diana’s death.

Will Messer, the 10-year-old winner of the Inspirational Child award, asked the duke to sign a Funko Pop “Prince Harry” doll and presented him with a silk scarf from his favourite football team, Sunderland.

The schoolboy’s father Gary Messer, from County Durham, said: “Harry said it wasn’t much of a likeness and said he looked like Stewie from the Family Guy cartoon series.”

The back of the box showed other dolls from the royal family series including William, Diana, Kate, the late Queen and the King.

Will, who was born with a leg deformity and a genetic condition affecting his facial development and breathing, is a full-time wheelchair user but chatted about his love of gaming with Harry who said: “In my day it was Fifa and Call of Duty.”

Harry also spoke to Margot Jones-Billington, a six-year-old who was left with a brain injury after suffering a bleed on the brain at 10 months old, and told her about his son Archie and daughter Lillibet.

He said: “You obviously love sparkles. I have a boy and a girl who are seven and five. My little girl loves sparkles and she loves pink. That’s her favourite colour.”

Margot, winner of the Inspirational Child aged four to six award, was wearing sparkly shoes and a pink dress. The duke asked if he could touch her footwear and said “wow” as he placed his finger on her shoe.