Wipe one’s feet! Girl of five reminds Harry of his manners before going into her dad’s home
PRINCE Harry spoke of his excitement at becoming an uncle again yesterday – before being reminded of his manners by a little girl.
Lilly-Ann Flores, five, joined her father in welcoming the fifth-inline to the throne to their threebedroom terrace home, and proved a stickler for good behaviour. “Wipe your feet,” she told the Prince as he crossed the threshold of their house.
Harry, 32, replied: “Can I come in? Is that all right? Shall I take my shoes off?”
He then vigorously wiped his shoes on the mat as Lilly-Ann stood guard at the door.
The Prince was visiting her father, Simon Flores, a former soldier who is one of 19 military veterans housed in Canada Street, Manchester, with their families.
Harry and the Duke of Cambridge had visited the street in 2015 and helped volunteers from military charities renovate derelict houses as part of a DIY programme to turn them into homes for veterans.
Mr Flores, 37, moved into the home in November last year with Lilly-Ann and her brothers Kobi, six, and Damasco, four.
The former soldier, who had part of a leg blown off by a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2006, told Harry how the new home had helped transform his life after 13 years in the Army.
He reassured the Prince that Lilly-Ann asks all visitors to wipe their feet before entering the home.
“She is the princess of the house,” he said.
As he arrived in Canada Street, Harry was immediately asked about the prospect of becoming an uncle again after Kensington Palace announced the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were expecting their third child.
Giving a thumbs up, he said: “Fantastic, great – very, very happy.”
Asked about his sister-in-law after it was disclosed she was suffering from the morning sickness that laid her low during her first two pregnancies, Harry said: “I haven’t seen her for a while but I think she is OK.”
A spring baby for his brother and sister-in-law may have a knock-on effect on any plans that Harry and his US actress girlfriend Meghan Markle have to wed.
The couple, who have just been on a romantic safari holiday to Botswana and Zambia, are widely expected to announce their engagement later this year and marry in 2018.
But the focus of public attention
in the short term will now shift to William and Kate.
William, Harry and Kate are all due to step up their number of official duties in order to replace the Duke of Edinburgh, who retired from solo roles in August at the age of 96.
But Kate will now be expected to be on light duties for at least another 18 months to two years.
During his day in Manchester, Harry also visited a training house set up by the military charity Walking With The Wounded, which provides veterans with accommodation.
The Prince met some of WWTW’s beneficiaries and other Canada Street residents.
He also joined a roundtable discussion on how multi-agency partnerships can support mental health provisions for ex-servicemen and women, including those who get into trouble with the law.