Prince Harry may have just broken royal protocol, but it was for the sweetest reason, and no one can even be mad about it. Cue all the “awwww”s!

The Duke and his wife, Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, had just touched down in Australia on their royal tour they were greeted by a slew of adorable school children. Among them was one five-year-old named Luke, who has Down syndrome.

As the children patiently waited in line to meet the Duke and Duchess as their principal, Ann Val Dartel went over some ground rules, and reminded them to be respectful. Above all, she told them, was to make sure they didn’t touch the couple. This was not allowed according to royal protocol.

The majority of the children obeyed the rules, but when it came Luke’s turn to greet the royal coupe, he just couldn’t help himself. The moment he saw Prince Harry, he threw his arms around his neck for one big old bear hug.

The hug happened so quickly that Val Dartel couldn’t stop him. She couldn’t even hide her shock, as her jaw fell wide open in disbelief, quite unsure of what to do.

Thankfully, Harry didn’t mind too much, or even at all. He hugged the little boy right back!

But the cuteness doesn’t end there. Luke then looked at Harry dead in the eyes and began to touch his chin and stroke his beard. He becomes so fascinated with the scratchy texture of the facial hair that Val Dartel, though smiling, tries to take him away at this point. But Luke just couldn’t stop!

When Luke does finally back away, Megan then kneels down next to him and Luke hands her a bouquet of flowers. Harry then risks royal protocol being broken twice by asking Luke if he’d like to give Megan a hug as well. Of course, Luke was more than willing to do so and wrapped the Duchess up in a huge, adorable cuddle.

We’re not one yet. Clearly, there was just something about Harry’s red hair that made Luke want to come back to it. Immediately after Megan’s hug, he went right back to Harry again, giving him another huge hug and touching the top of his head of hair.

Val Dartel said she was pretty stunned when Luke was so touchy-feely with the royals, but that she was grateful the Duke and Duchess were so patient and courteous.

“Prince Harry was completely gracious and was so polite and realized what was happening and his infatuation with his beard,” she said.

As far as the beard/hair touching goes, Val Dartel thinks it has something to do with the men that Luke looks up to. “His favorite person was Santa Claus, who has a beard…and now it’s Prince Harry,” she said.

That could explain it!

To see the adorable moments of hugs, check out the video below. Clearly, the narrators couldn’t believe what was happening either!

How sweet is this little boy’s infatuation with Prince Harry? Do you think the prince handled this tricky situation well?