Prince Harry receives German award for charity work

BERLIN - Britain’s Prince Harry has been honoured for his charity work in Lesotho during a live-broadcast TV show in Berlin that raised millions of euros for children’s welfare.

Bettina Wulff, wife of German President Christian Wulff, introduced him on the annual show Saturday, broadcast to the whole of Germany by ZDF public television.

“You have helped 3,000 children so far,” she said, and handed him the annual Herz Fuer Kinder (have a heart for children) award.

“From the bottom of my heart, vielen Dank,” said Harry, 26, thanking the fund-raising foundation in a mix of English and German.

The heart-shaped statuette is handed out every year by a German foundation to a celebrity fund-raiser.

Harry urged viewers to support Sentebale, the African charity he co-founded in 2006 to helps young AIDS victims in Lesotho.

“Sentebale helps people in Lesotho to help themselves,” he said.

He said this week his decision to work with children was in part influenced by his mother, the late Princess Diana.

During the evening-long TV gala, viewers were asked to phone in and pledge donations to Herz Fuer Kinder, which redistributes the funds to different children’s charities round the globe. The pre-Christmas show raised 15.4 million euros ($20.4 million).

The prince, younger brother of Prince William, was the final guest introduced by the host, TV personality Thomas Gottschalk.

Ein Herz for Kinder had raised more than 153 million euros in previous years. The fund-raising group was set up in 1978.