Michelle Obama and Prince Harry join forces for surprise Chicago school visit

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Prince Harry and Michelle Obama have teamed up for a surprise visit to a school in Chicago’s South Side which is a stone's throw from the soon to be Obama Presidential Centre.

The royal and the former first lady spent time with around 20 students at Hyde Park Academy – a public school which serves a large African-American population. There the duo engaged in a “warm and wide-ranging conversation”.

“The warm and wide-ranging conversation, lasting over an hour, covered how the Center will showcase the South Side of Chicago to the world,” said Kensington Palace in a statement.

“They spoke about the importance of young people staying inspired and the power of students using their voices to change the world.”

Michelle Obama thanked the 33-year-old, who is fifth in line to the throne, for coming to her hometown of Chicago.

“Thanks to my friend Prince Harry for joining me in my hometown to surprise these outstanding students!” she said on Twitter.

Prince Harry’s blossoming friendship with the Obamas was forged several years ago when he joined forced with Ms Obama to raise support for his Invictus Games in Orlando, Florida. Former President Barack Obama also joined Prince Harry at last month’s Invictus Games in Toronto.

The pair’s visit took place on the same day as the inaugural summit of the Obama Foundation in Chicago on Tuesday where Prince Harry was one of the headline speakers.

At the event, Mr Obama mocked the barrage of conspiracies theories, which were partially propounded by President Donald Trump, that claimed he was not a natural-born American US citizen and it was, therefore, unconstitutional for him to be President.

“The reason I’m so excited to see you all here today in part is because this is where I started,” Mr Obama, who was a community organiser in Chicago in the 1980s, said.

"This isn’t where I was born, I was born in Kenya,” he said prompting laughter before quickly adding, “That’s a joke.”

During Obama's 2008 presidential campaign and throughout his presidency, multiple theories emerged falsely claiming he was not a US citizen and was in fact born in Kenya.

President Trump was among those who pushed the “birther” conspiracy theory and consistently questioned former President Obama’s birthplace of Hawaii.