In town to kick off the Warrior Games in Colorado Springs, where more than 200 wounded servicemen and women from the U.S. and Britain will participate in sporting events, the young royal, 28, cooed and played with 10-month-old Sebastian Wilkowski, who was cradled by his mom, Julia, at a pre-Games brunch.
Dressed in army fatigues, Harry was meeting old friends, donors and supporters of the Games when the little fan caught his eye.
Julia, 37, says, "[Harry] said, 'It's great to meet you and asked, 'Who is this little guy?' And, 'You have a lot of hair for a 10-month-old.' He came closer and did a little small talk with the baby, and he just reached out and then made a little raspberry and funny faces. He made silly faces, and then he started blushing a little bit because he didn't think Sebastian would grab him," she adds. "Then Harry went to walk away and came back with another funny face. It was cute."
Julia and Sebastian Wilkowski meet Prince Harry
Her husband Kip, 43, a retired air force F16 pilot, says, "He is wonderful with children."
"I think he'll make a great uncle. He was holding his hand – all the things you do with babies," Julia added.
Harry, who has served in Afghanistan and visited wounded soldiers and recovering servicemen in Washington, D.C., has said the Games are a central part of his week-long tour through several states.
Speaking at the brunch, Harry said he hoped to "continue to enlarge this fantastic cause."
"I don't see why it wouldn't be possible to fill a stadium with 80,000 people not to watch the Olympics, not to watch the paralympics but to watch wounded servicemen fight it out with each other – not on the battlefield but in a stadium."
Moments earlier, Harry, often ad-libbing as he spoke from notes and putting his hand on his heart, had talked about the changes in the year since he was last at a Warrior Games event.
He had since served in Afghanistan with U.S. comrades-in-arms and knows all about "what he called tragic consequences: life-changing wounds and the death of friends."
Held for the fourth consecutive year at the Headquarters and National Training Center of the U.S. Olympic Team, the Warrior Games includes teams from the U.S. Army, the United States Marine Corps, the U.S. Navy and Coastguard, the Air Force and the Special Operations Command.
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