Turns out the World Cup isn’t the hottest thing to touch down in Brazil this week! Prince Harry officially began his royal tour of the South American country on Monday, June 23.
The redheaded royal, 29, went straight to the Rede Sarah Hospital after landing, visiting mostly children struggling with neurological conditions like cerebral palsy and Parkinson’s Disease.
Harry watched a game of wheelchair basketball and spoke with the team’s youngest player Caio Carvalho, 11, about his accident and love of the sport.
“I told him I used to love playing football [soccer], but now I’m in a wheelchair, I can’t,” Carvalho told Us Weekly of his interaction with Prince Harry. “It’s very exciting to have Prince Harry here. We asked him to join us in a game, but he didn’t want to as he said he had to train more. Maybe he was worried we’d beat him!”
Prince William’s younger brother also comforted a mother, who became emotional after her daughter, who has cerebral palsy, managed to welcome Harry to Brazil.
“I was so proud of my daughter welcoming Prince Harry to Brazil — I was stunned,” mom Erica Oliveire said of her daughter Eduarda. “He said he was very happy to be here, and he gave me a big hug.”
After spending time with the patients and their families, Harry headed outside for a canoe trip, where some of the hospital’s patients work to build their upper body strength.
Though he got splashed during the trip, he jovially declined a change of clothes before talking to Us Weekly’s Omid Scobie about the ride.
“It was great fun!” he said. “And great to talk to the other guys out there. Very peaceful.”
