Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle have had a difficult start to 2025. But he put all that aside and stepped back into the spotlight this week in order to champion a cause close to his heart.

The Duke, 40, has appeared in a new video message in support of WellChild, one of his long-standing patronages. Speaking from his home in Montecito, California, Harry said it is a “true privilege to honour the bravery and compassion of this incredible community”.

Harry, who has been a patron of the charity since 2007, said: “The WellChild Awards recognise and celebrate the growing number of young people with complex medical conditions from across the United Kingdom, as well as those who go the extra mile to care for them.

“They allow us to shine a spotlight on the remarkable stories of strength, resilience and courage that they demonstrate every single day. And this year is especially significant as we celebrate the 20th WellChild Awards.

“It is a true privilege to honour the bravery and compassion of this incredible community. And to make this happen, we need your help to nominate the exceptional people who inspire you every single day.

“Your support can make all the difference. Please join us in recognising the amazing individuals who will be honored at the 2025 WellChild Awards!” It follows the news that Meghan has reportedly suffered another setback after her Netflix series was postponed, and she and Harry were hauled over the coals in a brutal Vanity Fair article.

Earlier this month, it was announced that With Love, Meghan, was being postponed due to the devastating wildfires that had been sweeping across Los Angeles, and a short time later, both Meghan and Harry were branded “disaster tourists” after helping out at a food distribution centre for victims of the fires.

The couple then also had to contend with a savage article in Vanity Fair magazine, which made claims about what it is like to work for the couple and even featured complaints from the neighbours in their town of Montecito.

Now, it seems Meghan has had to face another challenge—a delay to a new podcast series of episodes. According to HELLO!, the episodes have been pushed back in the same manner as With Love, Meghan after the Duchess said she wanted to focus on the needs of those impacted by the wildfires” in her home state of California.

Meghan signed a deal with Lemonada Media around a year ago to produce new podcasts. Last February, Meghan said she was “proud” to share that she’s joined Lemonada to continue her “love of podcasting”.

Harry and Meghan initially teamed up with Spotify in 2020 when they signed a lucrative $25million (£19million) deal with the giant streaming service. However, the partnership came to an abrupt and sudden end in 2023 after the couple produced just 12 episodes of one standalone podcast, Archetypes, which was hosted by Meghan.

Spotify and Archewell Audio released a joint statement in June 2023 saying they had “mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together”. But sources close to Spotify said the royal couple did not meet the productivity benchmark required to receive the full headline payout from the deal, having only produced one 12-episode series, the Wall Street Journal reported.