A visibly emotional Harry hugged US Marine, Kirstie Ennis at Buckingham Palace over the weekend as she gifted him with the final dog-tag of her fallen friend.
Kirstie put off her scheduled leg amputation so she could participate in the charity event Walking with the Wounded – a 1,600km marathon trek around Britain – where she placed 24 other dog-tags in numerous locations around the UK.
She had planned to leave the last one somewhere at Buckingham Palace – but then she saw Prince Harry and gifted him the treasured memento.
Prince Harry and Kirstie share an emotional embrace.
“No I can’t accept this,” a teary Harry said to the 24-year-old.
“Please, you know what this means to me, I want you to,” the 24-year-old, who was injured when her helicopter crashed while serving in Afghanistan, told the Prince before they embraced in an emotional hug.
Kirstie presents Prince Harry with her friend, Corporal Baune’s dog-tag.
The moving gesture was in honour of Kirstie’s friend, Corporal Baune, who died in 2011 after he was hit with an IED while on patrol aged just 21.
“I look at situations like that, he never came home, he had a wife and a family but he never came home. The six of us here today did come home, we are actually the lucky ones. The least we can do is share their legacy and honour their memory,” Kristie told reporters.
