The Prince and Princess of Wales have expressed their gratitude to an eight-year-old boy who dressed as one of Buckingham Palace’s Royal Guards to greet them during their tour of Boston.
On Thursday, Prince William and Kate Middleton, who are currently in Massachusetts on a three-day tour ahead of the second annual Earthshot Prize Awards Ceremony on Friday, visited clean technology lab Greentown Labs in Somerville.
After concluding the visit, the royal couple was approached outside by eight-year-old Henry Dynov-Teixeira, from Somerville, who was dressed in a miniature version of the red uniform worn by the King’s Guard, complete with a bearskin hat.
Dynov-Teixeira, who was holding a bouquet of roses and was joined by his mothers Irina and Melissa, was able to present the flowers to Kate after shaking hands with the prince and princess.
According to the eight year old, who also wore the outfit for Halloween after being inspired by the changing of the guard during a visit to London earlier this year, it was a dream come true meeting the royal couple.
“First of all it was crazy meeting the prince and princess. It was crazy. I wasn’t actually that nervous now that I think about it when I actually did it,” he told the DailyMail, adding: “They said: ‘Oh my goodness, thank you so much.’ They said they loved the costume, like everybody else.”
The eight year old then said the experience was especially surreal because “it was [his] first time meeting the royal family”.
As for what Dynov-Teixeira discussed with the prince and princess, he told WCVB that he asked them where their eldest son Prince George was, prompting the royals to inform him that their son was in school.
The young royal fan also said the encounter would stick with him, as he told the outlet he plans to tell his friends he’s “famous”.
“I’m going to scream to my BFF, Baxter, and tell him I am famous,” he said.
The meeting also made an impression on the prince and princess, who shared a photo taken during their conversation with Dynov-Teixeira on their official Twitter account.
“Thanks to Henry and everyone who came out to see us in Somerville this morning!” the royal couple captioned the photo, in which they could be seen bending down to smile at the eight year old.
The sweet moment prompted praise from fans, with many describing the interaction as “adorable”.
“This is the cutest thing, how adorable is Henry!” one person tweeted, while another said: “This is so sweet. I saw this little boy on the news this morning. So happy he got his moment.”
“Just adorable! What a lovely memory for that young man,” someone else wrote.
The eight-year-old’s mother Melissa was also left overjoyed by the meeting, which she told the DailyMail was “surreal” and “really spectacular”.
After acknowledging that the Princess of Wales is “terrific with children,” she said: “She just gave him great compliments and he gave her compliments so it was a really nice experience.”
According to Dynov-Teixeira’s mother, the eight year old also told the princess about his trip to London, in addition to asking about Prince George’s whereabouts. “She asked if he should be in school and he said yes - and laughed of course,” she added.
The prince and princess are making a number of public appearances during their time in Boston, which marks their first trip overseas since the passing of William’s grandmother the Queen, and their first visit to the United States in eight years.
You can follow along with all the details about Kate and William’s tour of Boston here.
