Michelle Obama & Prince Harry Surprised High Schoolers In Chicago, & The Pics Are Cute AF
When American royalty and actual royalty join forces, the results are major. The former first lady and some guy who was excited to be in her presence — okay, a prince — showed up unannounced at a Chicago public school on Oct. 31. And, it's truly undeniable that the photos of Michelle Obama and Prince Harry surprising students are super adorable.
Obama and Prince Harry met with students for around an hour at Hyde Park Academy, a school located across the street from the future Obama Presidential Center on the city's South Side. And, of course, it was everything.
The pair joined approximately 20 students in a big circle for a "warm and wide-ranging conversation" about the importance of keeping students inspired and how the Presidential Center will "showcase the South Side of Chicago to the world," according to the Kensington Palace Twitter account.
It also addressed "...the transformative power of students using their voices to change the world,” Caroline Adler Morales, Obama's communications director, said in a statement to ABC News.
The students looked overjoyed by the visit, as photos showed big smiles and even moments when they appeared to be moved by the duo. It looked like a #blessed time, to say the least.
Then-President Barack Obama originally visited the school in 2013 to learn about its "Becoming A Man" program, a resource for inner-city young people. Hyde Park Academy serves predominantly students of color and focuses on college readiness and career development, according to ABC News.
The former first lady and Prince Harry appeared happy and at ease during the visit, and it could be because they go way back. Michelle Obama appeared at the opening ceremony of the 2016 Invictus Games, a competitive event for veterans and wounded service personnel created by Prince Harry.
In fact, Prince Harry has been hanging out with a couple former members of the Obama administration. In September, President Obama and former Vice President Joe Biden joined Prince Harry at the 2017 Invictus Games in Canada.
This time, Prince Harry was in the Windy City for the first Obama Foundation summit, where he joined a panel on empowering young people after the school visit. The summit brought together a range of prominent figures, artists, and creators to meet with rising leaders, according to USA Today. The event itself has been described as a brainstorming session, although it notably comes as the Obama Foundation raises money for the Presidential Center that will cost an estimated $500 million to create.
But Prince Harry isn't the only one who gets to have some fun with the Obamas.
The former first lady and president have become familiar with the royal family over the years.
The Obamas spent time with Prince William and Princess Kate during a 2011 state visit to the United Kingdom and then again in 2016 at Kensington Palace. That visit produced some notoriously adorable photos of Prince George clad in a bath robe while he met the Obamas.
Sadly, Tuesday's summit was much more formal.
Later that evening, Prince Harry sat down with business leader Mellody Hobson where he hit on similar themes as the conversation at Hyde Park Academy. In Nottingham, England, Harry works with Full Effect, a program that works to prevent young people from committing crimes, per ABC News. (Michelle Obama is slated for her own conversation at the summit on Nov. 1, when she will speak with Elizabeth Alexander, a poet.)
Until the Hyde Park Academy students can look across the street at the Presidential Center-to-be, they'll have photos of the visit to cherish. Prince Harry might be the official royalty, but Michelle Obama will always be a queen.
