Anticipation ran high as Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, prepared to address an eager audience at the Hilton Toronto. The buzz surrounding the appearance of a “real-life prince” was palpable in the hotel’s conference rooms.

The prospect of Prince Harry speaking to an assembly of real estate agents was undeniably captivating, and our team was on hand to capture his address as the keynote speaker at the Ontario Real Estate Association’s (OREA) annual Power House Conference on Monday afternoon.

Many wondered what insights someone living in Montecito, California, could offer to a group of realtors grappling with Ontario’s housing challenges on a chilly day in Canada.

Attendees were reminded of the daunting reality that the “quintessential dream of home ownership” remains elusive for most Ontarians. A striking 68 percent of residents express concern over affording basic needs, while 70 percent are postponing significant life decisions due to financial instability.

OREA President Cathy Polan kicked off the event with enthusiasm, proclaiming her ‘royal excitement’ for the day ahead.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford – who once told Harry and his wife Meghan that they were welcome to live in Canada, but Canadians wouldn’t pay for their security – spoke of affordable housing and slammed Donald Trump, whose tariffs he blamed for the rising cost of living.

As the event’s first speaker, Ford anticipated a day of conversations with ‘change-makers, politicians, analysts, professionals, academics… and Prince Harry.’

The Honorable Kathleen Wynne, 25th Premier of Ontario, spoke passionately about, ‘homelessness, the opioid crisis, deep poverty and the desire of middle-class families to simply find a place to live.’

By the time the Duke of Sussex took to the stage in one of the Hilton Toronto’s many conference rooms, the arrival of ‘a real-life prince’ had been well and truly teased. (Pictured: Prince Harry arrives for the conference)

What could a man who lives a world away in Montecito, California, have to say to realtors gathered on a frigid day in Canada to talk about Ontario’s housing crisis? 

As the event’s first speaker, Ford anticipated a day of conversations with ‘change-makers, politicians, analysts, professionals, academics… and Prince Harry’

And just after 3.30pm, the 400 or so attendees looked breathlessly on as the moment they’d been waiting for arrived: Harry took his seat for a ‘fireside chat’ and was asked what advice he could give to a profession facing major challenges. What wisdom might follow?

‘I’m not here to give advice,’ he said. ‘Especially not in housing.’

Nor, despite the building excitement that had preceded his arrival, was he there to be videoed or photographed, as all the other esteemed speakers had been.

Filming Cathy Polan’s introductory words – before the prince had even emerged onto the stage – was enough to see me escorted from the room and forced to delete the offending footage.

Later, Harry revealed that his aversion to photography extends to his pets – one of his favorite things, he shared, is walking his black Labrador, Pula. But when enchanted Americans ask if they can take a picture of her his response is, ‘No. No you can’t.’

‘Being seen and heard is the most important thing for people,’ he said at one point.

And so, for $299 (CAD) a head to OREA members or $499 (CAD) for non-members, the Power House attendees were treated to roughly twenty minutes of Prince Harry’s musings.

Replying to that question regarding advice for a profession in crisis the prince continued: ‘I come from a unique standpoint, a unique upbringing, a life of service and I will always be part of what I was born into.

‘I made the conscious decision to put my wife and family first while also very much wanting to continue that service.’

OREA did not respond when asked to reveal the details of Harry’s fee for the appearance.

‘When I was in my twenties,’ he said. ‘I wanted to put my head in the sand, my fingers in my ears and avoid public life entirely – look what it did to my mother.

‘Then I realized I had to pull my s*** together… you have a platform. At first service was experienced because I had to do it, and the change was I want to continue to do it because I enjoy it.’

This statement was met with applause by the realtors for whom the earnest talks of the day now seemed a world away. 

‘Being seen and heard is the most important thing for people,’ he said at one point 

The Honorable Kathleen Wynne (second from left), 25th Premier of Ontario, spoke passionately about, ‘homelessness, the opioid crisis, deep poverty and the desire of middle-class families to simply find a place to live’

Pictured: The Hilton Toronto where the Ontario Real Estate Association’s (OREA) annual Power House Conference was held

Filming Cathy Polan’s introductory words – before the prince had even emerged onto the stage – was enough to see me escorted from the room and forced to delete the offending footage

Asked what made a good leader the prince left the crowd guessing: ‘We know what it’s not right? We have a very good demonstration of exactly what it isn’t.’

And the best advice he’d ever had, Harry shared, was advice he’d given himself: ‘Put your own mask on before helping others. I ran myself into the ground, I burned out just wanting to be there for everybody, but you’re no use unless you’re physically, mentally, fit.’

Coaching and therapy, he noted, were particularly helpful: ‘Ninety-nine percent of us walk around with some form of unresolved grief, trauma or loss.’

Fifty-Seven percent of Ontarians are worried about losing their home or rental unit with the vast majority, pollster and government advisor David Coletto revealed earlier, more worried about ‘physiological needs such as food, water and shelter’ than ‘self-actualization.’

What worries the prince? ‘AI and digital safety.’

Tech titans, he said, ‘make money at the expense of children – exploiting young people, farming their minds.’ There is ‘real-world harm knowingly created’ and they don’t want to fix it, he asserted, ‘because they are making money.’

Perhaps keen to lighten the mood Harry’s interlocutor lobbed him a question about Toronto.

After all, the city has a ‘special place’ in his story – it is where his romance with Meghan first bloomed. ‘Toronto gave me my wife,’ Harry acknowledged with a smile.

What would his ideal Toronto community look like if he were able to design it?

‘Well, it wouldn’t be in the city. I’m not a huge fan of cities,’ he told the roomful of professionals dedicated to developing and selling urban real estate. ‘I do better in the outdoors.

‘My wife and I fled to Vancouver Island and even that wasn’t remote enough so maybe an island within an island.’

And with that his time was up.