Overnight, Prince Harry was given a special task by his wife, the Duchess of Sussex: to deliver a special message to her pen pal, 14-year-old Aleyna Genc, a student who has been writing to and receiving letters from Meghan Markle for two years.
Genc, who underwent protein beam therapy after battling a brain tumour during her childhood, first wrote to Meghan after the duchess made a speech at the UN, the Nottingham Post reports. “I wanted to tell her that she had inspired me and so I sent her a letter. We have been sending letters back and forth ever since then,” Genc told the publication.
While Harry was visiting the school, he met Genc in person, who came prepared with a present for baby Archie. “He said thank you and that he loved it,” she told Press Association. “He said he would love it because he hasn’t been able to sleep because of Archie for the past few days.”
Afterwards, Prince Harry took Genc away from the crowd so he could play her a special voice message from Meghan. Of the moment, she said, “I have been sending Meghan letters for around two years now and she sent me a voice note which I got to listen to on Harry’s phone. She basically wished me well.”
“It was amazing,” she said of meeting Prince Harry. “It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I have already got to do it. He hugged me at the end too. He is so different to what I expected.”