Diana Legacy Award winner reveals ‘surreal’ ceremony dragged on for SEVEN HOURS and finally ended at 1am – after he shook hands with Prince William at the Science Museum before heading five miles across London to speak to Prince Harry on video call

A winner of a Diana Legacy Award has told how the competing demands of warring Princes William and Harry turned the ceremony into a ‘surreal’ marathon held at two different venues over seven hours that didn’t finish until 1am.

Yusuf Ben-Tarifite was one of 20 young leaders and role models who received prestigious awards in memory of Princess Diana who was shunted backwards and forwards and, by the time Harry finally appeared via video link it was gone midnight – hours after his brother had done his appearance in person and left.

Yusuf, 23, told how the winners ended up being congratulated by the estranged brothers some four hours apart and had to travel across London to do so.

While the Prince of Wales handed out awards during the glittering ceremony at the Science Museum in Kensington, the winners had to return to their hotel nearly five miles away for the video call with Prince Harry.

It was after midnight before the call took place with winners sat around a video screen set up in a conference room at the Hilton Hotel near London’s Waterloo Station.

Yusuf Ben-Tarifite was one of 20 young leaders and role models who received prestigious awards in memory of Princess Diana. Pictured receiving his award from the Prince of Wales at 7.30pm during the glittering ceremony at the Science Museum in Kensington

Yusuf then had to wait until it was after midnight before the call with Prince Harry took place. Pictured: Winners sit around a video screen set up in a conference room at the Hilton Hotel near London’s Waterloo Station

The Diana Awards had been touted as a rare joint appearance by estranged brothers William and Harry, albeit 5,000 miles apart from each other and at different times of the evening

Insiders told how Harry’s appearance 5,000 miles away from his California home posed ‘a logistical nightmare’.

Yusuf, 23, who campaigns for better access to medical careers, said he was flattered to receive an award – but described the proceedings as ‘surreal’.

He told how he arrived at the museum at 5.30pm after travelling down from Oxford where he is studying to be a junior doctor.

Prince William began handing out the awards at around 7.30pm before leaving at 8.15pm.

The black tie ceremony finished around 9pm with guests making their way back to the Hilton and arriving at around 11.30pm.

Describing how the evening unfolded Yusuf, who attended the ceremony with his mother, told MailOnline: ‘The Prince William thing was in person at the museum. The bit with Prince Harry was at a completely different venue.

‘The whole thing went on from around 5.30pm until going into 1am.

‘After the ceremony ended, we went to a hotel and it was done through a video link.

‘It was actually a surprise for us that they kept secret. We knew beforehand that something was happening later in the evening so we had to keep our diaries free for that.

‘We found out in the late afternoon that we knew we were going to be speaking to Prince Harry in some shape or form but we didn’t know exactly what was going to happen.

Yusuf, 23, who campaigns for better access to medical careers, said he was flattered to receive an award – but described the proceedings as ‘surreal’

Yusuf (pictured outside Royal Berkshire Hospital) told how he arrived at the museum at 5.30pm after travelling down from Oxford where he is studying to be a junior doctor

Yusuf won a Diana Award last year after setting up the Aspiring Medics programme which helps students from diverse backgrounds pursue careers in medicine

Prince William, Prince of Wales, at the The Diana Legacy Awards at the Science Museum

A royal expert has claimed that Princess Diana (pictured in 1983) would have insisted the brothers set their feud aside to present the award in her name

‘It was at the hotel we were staying at. There were so many moving parts in the logistics of it but it was well organised and went very smoothly.’

Yusuf won a Diana Award last year after setting up the Aspiring Medics programme which helps students from diverse backgrounds pursue careers in medicine.

Yusuf started off the project as an afternoon club for Year 12 students at the Richard Hale School in Hertford.

The student, who comes from a working class family, went on to launch the project nationwide just days before starting his studies at Oxford University in 2018.

Yusuf told how he was ‘thrilled’ after he was handed a second award by Prince William during Thursday evening’s ceremony.

He was one of 20 winners from across the globe to be presented with a legacy honour marking The Diana Award’s 25th anniversary.

Yusuf, from Hertford, declined to comment about the rift in the Royal family and insisted he had no complaints about the protracted nature of the ceremony.

Prince William appeared at the Diana Legacy Award event at the Science Museum in London on Thursday, as he is pictured meeting key staff and supporters of the Diana Award

He said: ‘I just feel super privileged to have received the award. I’m so humble and grateful for it.

‘The way it did pan out made it more of a unique experience. It was kind of magical in a way – there was something going on at midnight. It’s like a Cinderella tale right there.’

Yusuf told how he arrived at the Hilton Hotel – where all the winners were staying – at around 3.30pm.

After getting ready for the event he got a taxi to the museum arriving at 5.30pm.

Describing the evening he said: ‘You get to meet all your other fellow winners. It’s a wonderful evening. You get to invite your guests so I had my lovely mum over as well for this ceremony.

‘Prince William presented the award and you get to meet him. He shakes your hand. You exchange a few lines with each other and get a photo with him as well. It was such a special moment. You sort of feel starstruck really.

‘He just asked how I was able to manage it all really. He was talking about time management and keeping it going while being a junior doctor as well.

‘I think he was most interested in balancing that alongside medical school. He was also very encouraging.

Prince William, Prince of Wales meets Baroness Doreen Lawrence as he attends last night

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry attend the Diana Awards in 2017

The Prince of Wales appeared at the awards event alone as his wife Kate is still recovering

The Diana Award is an accolade given to a young person aged 9-25 for their social action work

Princess Diana exhibition Princess Diana, Princess of Wales with Prince William and Prince Harry on holiday in Majorca, Spain on August 10, 1987

‘There was a dinner and after that we went back to the hotel where we had the video call as a group with Prince Harry.

‘He was generally giving encouraging advice and said he was proud of all of us to be able to continue on with his mother’s legacy.

‘It was kind of nice doing it together. We were able to speak to him and ask him questions.

‘That took place at midnight. It was a really long day but everything seemed to happen really quickly over the span of a few hours. It was so surreal.

‘It genuinely was so magical. You were meeting people from across the globe, there were award winners from every continent. It was awe-inspiring seeing what everyone was up to.

‘It’s really rare to be able to take a step back and pause and reflect. I think that’s what yesterday evening gave everyone including myself the opportunity to do.’

He said of receiving the honour: ‘I went to a state school. I come from a working class background. None of my family went into medicine. I was super privileged to receive that offer from Oxford University.

‘Every day I’m so grateful to be here. It’s a case of being able to give back and help other people from a similar background.

‘Growing up in that background means you have a better understanding of the inspiration gap, the skills gap and the information gap and that places you in a really good position to be able to give back.

‘It came from my own personal challenges and tribulations and struggles. Applying for medicine, you have all sorts of different hoops to jump through. That’s the sort of thing we set out to change – in terms of helping with work experience, entry exams and also interviews.

‘Many schools are able to prepare kids for interviews but many students don’t have that and that is also something we are able to help our students with.

‘The Diana Legacy Award is very, very special in the sense that you have this in-person physical ceremony and you get the opportunity to meet Prince William and Prince Harry.

‘It’s an amazing prestigious prize that gets you that recognition and then supercharges partnerships further. The Diana Award allowed us to get our first partnership with an NHS trust and now we’re working with five NHS trusts so it really does make an incredible difference.’