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Prince William and Prince Harry show their support for Sport Relief

9th July 2004

Princes William and Harry made a surprise appearance to show their support for Sport Relief's one mile charity event in London.

The young Princes turned up at the start of the mass charity dash along the Embankment dressed in Sport Relief T-shirts.

Prince William was delighted to complete the charity dash in six minutes ten seconds and Prince Harry was also due to run the race – but had to pull out due to injuring his knee.

At the end of the race, Prince William said: “I am pleased about that time. It was very sad that Harry did not run.

“If he had been here then he would have done it faster.”

Prince Harry then came over, shook his brother by the hand, and said: “Well done, I‘m very proud of you.”

Before the start, The Princes posed for photographs and chatted to youngsters helped by the charity Fitzrovia which uses sport to support children in urban areas.

“Hopefully they will give us energy food at the end,” William told 10-year-old Cassim Sechott.

The youngster said afterwards that he was pleased to be racing with William.

“He said have a good day,” Cassim revealed.

Princes William and Harry joined a team from Clarence House who were wearing white Sports Relief T-shirts with Clarence House One Mile on the back.

Like the other runners they wore odd socks, one red one from the charity and one of their own.

Prince William said: “I've been training for about two minutes. I've run round the block. I‘ve done a few miles in my time - not very well. I've done a bit of cross country but it was pretty bad.”

And Prince William joked before the race with BBC Grandstand presenter John Inverdale about Harry's injury: “I tripped him up so he wouldn't beat me”.

He said laughing that there was “huge brotherly rivalry”.

Harry said: “I'm wimping out. I'm injured - it's not a fast race it's a nice leisurely one.”

A spokesman for The Princes said they were keen to get involved in the fundraising bonanza: “It was about a month ago Sport Relief mentioned it. They both thought it was a great idea and jumped at the chance.

“Harry is really disappointed but it‘s just one of those things.”

The race - the first to kick off along the Victoria Embankment - was started by the head of Britain‘s Olympic bid and former athlete Lord Sebastian Coe.

Sport Relief was set up by Comic Relief and BBC Sport to raise money for tackling poverty and helping disadvantaged people both in the UK and in some of the most needy countries around the globe.

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