Prince Harry has paid tribute to the families of children with severe health needs for persevering under the coronavirus lockdown, drawing on his own experiences of parenthood.

Harry is a patron of WellChild, a British charity supporting children suffering from serious illnesses.

The prince spoke to parents and nurses via a video call.

He reflected on his own time as a new father to Archie, born in May 2019, as he asked parents about lockdown in Britain.

“It’s certainly strange times … full respect to every single one of you, because this is hard on everyone, but it is especially hard on you,” he said on the video published by WellChild.

“Of course, there’s going to be hard days. I can’t even begin to imagine how hard it is for you guys. Having one kid, at 11 months old, is tough, so to see what you guys are going through on a day-to-day basis, honestly so much respect to every single one of you.”

Harry moved to Los Angeles earlier in 2020, with his American wife Meghan Markle, after the couple gave up their roles as working members of Britain’s royal family.

Recently, they also managed to sneak out and deliver meals to LA residents in need during the Covid-19 pandemic, CNN reports.

The couple donned masks and gloves to volunteer for Project Angel Food, a non-profit organisation that prepares and delivers medically tailored meals to chronically ill people.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex dropped off a week’s worth of perishable meals and three weeks’ worth of shelf-stable foods to 20 of the charity’s clients last week.

The couple’s plans to retire from royal life shocked the Queen and the other royals. But a deal brokered with the 93-year-old monarch let them go their own way from April.

Harry alluded to having more time to spend with his family in California, which also has restrictions for the coronavirus pandemic.

He said one positive of the lockdown might be having time to spend with the family – “so much family that you almost think, do I feel guilty for having so much family time?” – and added that it was important to appreciate positive moments when harder times inevitably lay ahead.

“You’ve got to celebrate those moments where you’re just on the floor, rolling around in hysterics because of something that’s happened, and inevitably, half an hour later, maybe a day later, there’s going to be something that you have to deal with, and there’s no way that you can run away from it,” he said.

“As long as you guys are looking after yourselves and looking after each other, that is the best that you can do.”

-AAP