Prince Harry made an unexpected pit stop in Las Vegas to present at this year’s NFL Honors gala on his way back from visiting his father, King Charles III, in the U.K. The 39-year-old Duke of Sussex was a surprise guest at Thursday’s gala, which was held at the Resorts World Theatre, taking the stage to present the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award to Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman Cameron Heyward.
As he introduced the award, Harry had nothing but glowing reviews for all the NFL players in attendance. “What you guys do on and off the field is truly remarkable,” he told the crowd. “You’re role models for millions in the way you carry yourselves and the way you give back.” The royal continued, “This final award, the highest honor, is all about serving your community, and there’s one special man we’d like to pay tribute to now. A player who goes above and beyond and whose extraordinary commitment to helping others is a reflection of his own story.”
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Harry’s surprise at the NFL Honors gala comes just after he was spotted heading to London, where he briefly met with his father Tuesday following news of the monarch’s cancer diagnosis. Monday, Buckingham Palace announced that the King had been diagnosed with cancer, saying the 75-year-old’s diagnosis was detected while the monarch was undergoing treatment for an enlarged prostate last month. The kind of cancer King Charles was diagnosed with has not been confirmed, but the Palace did reveal that it is not prostate cancer.
The King has stepped back from all public-facing duties while he undergoes treatment, according to the Palace, and senior royals, including Queen Camilla and William, Prince of Wales will take on his duties for some events. Charles “remains wholly positive about his treatment and looks forward to returning to full public duty as soon as possible,” the Palace said at the time in a statement.ย
Thursday evening, Queen Camilla confirmed that the monarch was “doing extremely well under the circumstances” while speaking at a concert celebrating the work of local charities in England’s Salisbury Cathedral, as per CBS News. She continued that Charles was “very touched by all of the letters and messages the public have been sending from everywhere,” and that he found them “very cheering.”
