Prince Harry honours girl who defied all the odds

1 hour ago

Kate Bradbrook,in Northamptonand

Alex Pope,Northamptonshire

News image — Prince Harry presented Margot Jones-Billington with a WellChild award and spoke to her during the event

WellChild Prince Harry, Margot and her mother, all sitting down, looking at the camera. Harry has ginger hair and a beard, is wearing a suit, tie and white shirt. Margot has on a dress with glitter on and a hairband in her hair. Her mother has long blonde hair and is wearing a blue dress. A balloon is behind them to the left. — Prince Harry presented Margot Jones-Billington with a WellChild award and spoke to her during the event

A seven-year-old girl whose mother says she has "defied the odds to walk and talk and even survive" has collected an Inspirational Child award from the Duke of Sussex.

Margot Jones-Billington, from Northampton, was one of the winners in the 4-6 age category of the 2026 WellChild Awards, which Prince Harry is a patron of.

She was nominated by her mother, Laura Jones-Billington, and chosen due to her courage, determination and positivity while living with a serious illness.

Laura said when Margot was 20 months old, she went to bed and the next day they discovered she had a ruptured arteriovenous malformation (AVM) which caused a catastrophic bleed on the brain.

Reuters The Duke of Sussex handing an award to Margot Jones-Billington during the WellChild Awards 2026, he is kneeling down, she is standing up. She has long dark hair. — The event was hosted by WellChild ambassador Gaby Roslin, and the whole family got on stage to meet Prince Harry

"I'm really proud of her; it's so good for her because she needs the recognition," Laura said.

She explained the AVM had left Margot in a coma and she spent six weeks in intensive care.

Margot suffered cardiac and respiratory arrests, and as a result of the bleed on her brain she had a stroke.

Laura added the AVM was a cluster of blood vessels "that just don't form properly and anybody could have an AVM".

She said it then took Margot "hours and hours" of physio and occupational therapy to learn how to talk and walk again.

"She had to start from scratch again... I look at her now and I can't believe that she's walking around - she's communicating," she added.

Kate Bradbrook/BBC Margot Jones-Billington sitting on a sofa, smiling and looking straight at the camera. She is holding up a WellChild award. She has long dark hair, tied back with an Alice band. — Margot, who has just turned seven, proudly shows off her award

Laura said Prince Harry was "lovely, just amazing, he was so calm, so kind".

"He spoke to Margot like he knew everything about her," she added.

During their talk, Margot asked Harry what his favourite colour was and he said blue, while he then complimented the award winner on her sparkly trainers.

He also revealed his daughter Princess Lilibet's two favourite things were the colour pink and sparkles.

Margot, who had just turned seven, presented the prince with a handmade card for his recent 42nd birthday.

Her younger sister, Adelaide, four, was also called up on to the stage at London's Royal Lancaster Hotel on Monday, and she "gave him the biggest cuddle I've ever seen" and then she declared he was her "best friend", Laura said.

Reuters Prince Harry, holding a handmade birthday card, with both hands. He has bracelets and ribbons on his arms. You can just about see two of his legs, as he is sitting down. A child is sitting next to him and you can just see her dress. — Margot made Prince Harry a birthday card to mark his big day on 15 September

In a speech, Prince Harry said the awards celebrated "an extraordinary group of children and young people living with complex medical needs, as well as the families who support them every single day".

It was attended by Olympic gold medalist Dame Kelly Holmes, Gok Wan, McFly drummer Harry Judd and Peter Andre.

Its chief executive, Matt James, said: "It's more important than ever that we are loud and clear about this growing population of young people who, all too often, feel unrecognised in our society."