Prince Harry cracked a joke when he was tasked with presenting an award at Kevin Costner’s charity event on Friday night — without Meghan Markle who stayed away from the star-studded event due to an illness, according to a report.
The Duke of Sussex was spotted hanging out with celebrities such as musician Richard Marx at One805Live!’s Fall Charity concert on Costner’s beachfront estate in Carpinteria, Calif.
The annual event serves as a benefit for first responders in Santa Barbara County.
Harry’s duties Friday night included presenting an award to Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office helicopter pilot Loren Courtney.
During the presentation, the 40-year-old joked with his fellow pilot that he “rarely sees his family because he’s always here flying helicopters,” according to People.
“As you’ve probably heard already, 22 years [of] military service over 10,000 hours and rarely sees his family because he’s always here flying helicopters,” Harry joked.
Courtney went on to tell stories of his past rescues including one involving five skiers who fell down a 30-foot embankment and it took the pilot five attempts to rescue one of them.
The skier eventually healed up and proposed to his girlfriend at the top of the Grand Tetons.
“You didn’t have to rescue him again, did you,” Prince Harry quipped. “You are one of the many heroes here tonight. There are people here tonight who are alive because of you and who are back to their families because of you… from everybody here, thank you so much.”
Last year, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex presented Costner with the Heart of the Community Award.
This year, however, Markle was not in attendance because she fell ill, according to the Mirror.
“We were all hoping Meghan would attend like she did last year but the word is that she is sick and could not make it,” a source told the outlet.
The musical lineup featured performances by Marx, Kenny Loggins, Kevin Costner & Modern West and Joe Bonamassa.
Pink and Dallas Green headlined the show as they performed as folk music duo You+Me.
Backstage, Harry met with Marx as the two shook hands and had a conversation, according to a video shared by the singer’s wife on Instagram.
Harry’s appearance at the charity event comes a week after he celebrated his 40th birthday on Sept. 15.
The milestone celebration was extra special for the estranged royal as he received a massive $8.5 million cash bonus, thanks to arrangements made by his late great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.
Harry’s family sent him birthday wishes over social media, the first time any such message was made to King Charles’ youngest son in three years.
Harry and his wife have been estranged from his relatives since they quit the royal family and moved to California in 2020.
The father of two will travel to New York this weekend where he is scheduled for several events including The Diana Award.
He will then travel back to the UK where he is the guest of honor for the WellChild Awards in London on Sept. 30.
The charity, which supports seriously ill children, is one of the few causes in the UK that the 40-year-old has kept since stepping back as a senior royal in 2020 and moving to California.