The Duke of Sussex cracked a joke about ‘wearing a tuxedo at 3pm’ as he presented The Heroes of The Year Award at the GQ Men of the Year Awards on Wednesday.
Appearing in London at the ceremony via video link from his home in Montecito, Prince Harry made his opening quip about the eight-hour time difference as he delivered a passionate speech, saying: “It’s not often that one gets to wear a chance to wear a tuxedo at 3pm unless of course, it’s from the night before, but well, here we are.”
The Duke said he was “deeply honoured” to present the award to Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert, Dr Catherine Green and the team behind the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine. He later said: “The Oxford Team have done their part. They are heroes of the highest order who gave us an instrument to fight this disease. They are our nation’s pride, and we are deeply indebted to their service.”
Harry also condemned the “mass-scale misinformation across ‘news’ media and social media, where those who peddle in lies and fear are creating vaccine hesitancy, which in turn is dividing communities and eroding trust”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have advocated for vaccine equity and urged people to support the Global Citizen COVAX campaign in honour of their son Archie’s second birthday in May. Harry also called for vaccines to be “distributed to everyone everywhere” at the star-studded Vax Live charity concert the same month.
He closed his speech by saying: “Thank you, again, to Professor Gilbert and Doctor Green, who The Guardian called ‘Two ordinary people who managed to pull off an extraordinary feat while dealing with the everyday stresses that come with being full-time mums and breadwinners in a notoriously insecure and poorly paid field.’
But tonight, we’re not honouring two ordinary people. These are two exceptional people – with a remarkable team – who are a bulwark of humanity.”
