Prince Harry comes to Washington and unleashes his British royal charm

“Were you all kept in the corner on purpose?” he joked with one cluster of people — cheeky! — before moving along.

“That counts, right?” A woman in a floral dress wanted to make sure that this encounter counted as Meeting a Prince. “That counts?”

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Britain's Prince Harry accepted an award for his charitable work with wounded soldiers during a black tie event Monday in Washington, his first visit to the city.

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Britain's Prince Harry visited with wounded veterans on Monday at the British Ambassador's Residence in Washington. He is in the nation's capital to accept an award for his charitable activities on behalf of wounded servicemen.

A few hours later, he had been sculpted into a tuxedo for the Atlantic Council dinner, stepping past throngs of admirers (How did they know he was here? Oh, Twitter.) and into the ­Ritz-Carlton. Basement ballroom, clanking forks, gorgeous tables.

The other recipients of the evening were U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who was honored for international leadership; violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, who was honored for artistic leadership; Unilever chief executive Paul Polman — business leadership; and all the enlisted men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces, for their distinguished military leadership. Sgt. Maj. Bryan Battaglia, the senior noncommissioned officer in the U.S. military, accepted the award from Atlantic Council Chairman Chuck Hagel and spoke of the “robust strength” and “grit” of his fellow enlisted men.

Mutter’s award was presented by her former husband, composer Andre Previn. She accepted musically, with a rendition of Gershwin. Ban’s award was presented by Henry Kissinger. The secretary general called attention to the turmoil in Syria, receiving applause for saying, “There can be no compromise on issues of justice or human rights.”

Harry’s award — only the second time that a humanitarian award has been given by the council (Bono was the other) — was presented by Gen. Colin Powell, who delightedly reminded the audience that the prince had another title: Capt. Harry Wales.

“The average age has dropped 25 years” at the dinner because of the captain’s presence, Powell said, also noting: “We have a record number of young, single women.”

In truth, the audience looked fairly distinguished, fairly salt-and-pepper and the grown-ups clapped as hard as the young ’uns when the prince delivered a moving acceptance speech on behalf of the Foundation of Prince William and Prince Harry, which assists wounded servicemen with reintegration into civilian life.

“British and American forces train together, fight together and, tragically, some are wounded and some die together,” said Harry, calling for continued cooperation between the countries’ armed forces and reminding the audience that a warrior’s struggle does not end when he or she leaves the battlefield.

“I obviously don’t feel I’ve done nearly enough to deserve this,” he said. The audience, obviously, disagreed.