Prince Harry enjoyed some yoga today (Image: ROTA)
Prince Harry wrapped up his final day of UK engagements by playing goat yoga and dodging water bombs. His visit to Maxstoke Castle in Warwickshire came less than 24 hours after he got his wish for a family reunion with the King.
The Duke of Sussex had fun at the Scotty’s Little Soldiers summer festival at Maxstoke Castle in Warwickshire, alongside some 200 children and family members. He spent the morning participating in a session of goat year, involving six nanny goats and their many four-month-old kids, during which the group was urged to “feel the freedom and presence” of the animals and to and “channel the spirit” of goats, mimicking their bleats and looking into their eyes.
“Feel that goat in you,” said leader Rosie. “Embody the balance of goats.” Rather than downward dogs, there were “downward goats”. Harry appeared keen to join in, shouting, “Let me in!” as he approached the animals’ pen. “Is there health and safety? Do they bite?”
The Duke was reassured that they just “love love”. Taking his place on his blue yoga mat, he assumed a variation of the tree pose that involved standing on one leg while making goat ears with his hands.
Told to look into the eyes of a goat, he successfully stared down one animal for some time, almost touching noses.
But when he lay down on his back, the animals started to trample over his body, prompting someone to joke that his security team had failed to protect the Crown Jewels as one stepped onto his crotch.
“Ow”, the Duke yelled, as he covered the area with his hands. “What are you doing?” he said to the goat, prompting laughter. He later tried to get the leader’s attention as some of the animals got a bit feisty.
Afterwards, Harry fed the animals and posed for photographs.
Next, he raced three-year-old River over to the inflatable obstacle course, where he was pelted with water bombs.
The duke has been in the UK since Monday (Image: ROTA)
“You’re naughty!” he told River as the boy targeted him, throwing balloon after balloon, often striking his royal target.
In a Q&A session, he revealed that he marks his late mother’s key anniversaries with a lemon drizzle cake, that his favorite country was Botswana and that he gets over bad days with a cold sea swim or a walk with the dog.
Poppy, nine, whose father, Able Seaman Daniel Turnbull, died in July 2020 from Leukaemia, asked: “What makes you laugh when you’ve had a difficult day?”
The Duke patted his heart, saying: “That got me right there,”
He added after a brief pause: “You know what, sometimes it’s just a difficult day. It’s not always possible to laugh. But my dog makes me laugh, my children make me laugh and if i need to laugh i’ll probably put something really funny on the television.
“But, and this goes for all of you, there are some days when you’d like to laugh but it might not always be possible to laugh. But you’ve got brothers and sisters, friends, this community… but yes I think the point is that a laugh at the end of a hard day is the best medicine served.”
Harry has been a dedicated support of Scotty’s Little Soliders, a UK-based charity for bereaved military children and young people for many years.