The Duke of Sussex fought back the tears as he hailed “mums and dads” caring for seriously ill youngsters during the WellChild awards.

Harry welled up when he publicly acknowledged their efforts during a speech at the end of the ceremony that recognised and rewarded youngsters living life to the full despite complex medical needs.

The event is one of the highlights of the duke’s public calendar, and he enjoyed himself meeting award winners before the presentation signing a Funko Pop Prince Harry doll and was showered with gifts, including housewarming gifts marking his return to the UK.

In a speech to recipients, their families and some of the WellChild nurses, Harry became emotional after saying: “To all the mums and dads – most of us will never truly know the emotional ups and downs of your day.”

He had broken down during his 2019 WellChild speech when host Gaby Roslin was on hand to support him and six years later she came to the duke’s side after he said “It’s happening again” then joked as she held his arm “that doesn’t help, that makes it worse”.

The duke finished his tribute to parents: “But I sincerely hope that you take strength from nights like this.

“And while we may not know the detail of your day, in this room and beyond, we recognise the commitment of your care and all that comes with it.”

In an interview with Hello! Magazine Harry said: “Once you become a parent, it does change everything. It’s not the fact that for all the years that I wasn’t a parent that meeting the kids didn’t matter as much, but you suddenly realise how grateful you are to have kids that aren’t sick.”

When Harry first arrived at London’s Royal Lancaster Hotel he was met with a barrage of questions from the media including “have you spoken to your uncle in the last few days?” but he did not respond.

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

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

Missing was wife Meghan who has not not been seen at a public event since the Sussexes returned to the UK late in August.

Harry has been patron of WellChild – the national charity for seriously ill children and their families – since 2007 and regularly attends the awards ceremony.

He told the guests: “These awards are always a very special evening because they give us the opportunity to recognise and celebrate an extraordinary group of children and young people living with complex medical needs, as well as the incredible families who give it everything they’ve got every single day.

“Tonight is also about recognising the remarkable people who go above and beyond to help those children, young people and families live full and meaningful lives. And that really is at the heart of what WellChild is all about.”

He said they were also celebrating the 20th anniversary of WellChild’s specialist nursing programme, supporting families including by teaching parents how to care for their children at home, and asked nurses in the room to stand up to receive an ovation.

Before the ceremony Will Messer, the 10-year-old winner of the Inspirational Child award, asked the duke to sign a popular Funko Pop 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.”

The back of the box showed other members of the royal family in the series, including William, Diana, Kate, the late Queen and the King, but Mr Messer joked it was a bit “contentious” to show the images to Harry.

Harry also chatted 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.”

In the Hello! interview the duke described how he cheered his children up from Monday morning blues: “I decided, ‘You know what? You’re being a little bit tricky, so I’m going to tell you exactly what I’m doing tonight’. And they were genuinely fascinated and asking all sorts of questions.”

He revealed they now eat Marmite in the UK after refusing to touch it in California, but will not eat beans on toast.

He said: “Is that a British thing? Because it’s always been in my life, and now the kids are eating Marmite on crumpets, which is big for me.”

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

She gave Harry a belated birthday card and another from her little sister Adelaide, who later gave Harry a hug on stage.

Former WellChild nurse Rachel Shanahan, winner of the Inspirational Nurse award for dedicating her 20-year career to caring for seriously ill children, gave Harry a bag with a mug, tea towel and key-ring as welcome home presents.