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Amber O'Connor & Aaron Morris

Boy, 3, wins World Book Day with 'masterpiece' Prince Harry costume

A mother has wowed royalists after transforming her son into Prince Harry for his school's World Book Day celebrations - with some dubbing his costume as a 'masterpiece'.

Three-year-old Ellis Wright is well known for his bold personality on the playground, so when he was invited by the school to dress up for the annual event, his mum had the perfect costume in mind very quickly.

Wanting to follow her son's wishes, with Ellis opting for a unique choice for his first WBD, she suggested the Duke of Sussex as an outfit idea, with her boy loving the idea.

Read more: Princess Diana's former butler Paul Burrell wants to tell William and Harry the 'truth' about their mother

The Mirror reports his mum, Melissa Wright, 36, from Surrey, set to work, creating a costume that's nothing short of a 'masterpiece', as impressed parents have dubbed it. Using children's hair spray and face paint, she transformed Ellis into Prince Harry, complete with ginger hair and a beard, which her son picked as his favourite part of the outfit.

"I was a bit worried because I guess it is a controversial topic because everybody does have quite a big opinion," Melissa admits. Thankfully, people have agreed the idea is "quite harmless and funny" so far and she's not had any negative feedback.

"Essentially, it is just fun," she added. The single mum also stressed it was a 'tongue in cheek' choice made to delight her little prince, who has not read Spare but shares similarities with its author, according to her.

Melissa explained: "As he's only three, I was giving him some suggestions; the typical sort of Julia Donaldson characters or things three year olds would like to be read. Then, he was like, 'no, no I don't want that one.' He is quite feisty, he's definitely got an opinion, which then kind of led me to Harry.

She added: "As a family, we do quite love the royal family. He loved the Jubilee. My mum threw a huge party and he still talks about that now. He is a bit obsessed with being a prince as well so I thought it would be perfect."

As to what Ellis will be next year, his playground admirers can be sure it will be another 'outside of the box' idea, as the Prince Harry costume is one in a long line of brilliant creations from the family. Melissa, who is the director of an office refurbishment company and works as a make-up artist at weekends, is known for creating epic costumes for his big sister, Xanthe, 9.

Together, the mum and daughter duo love to make the most of Melissa's skills, but they swap her usual classic bridal makeup for more creative designs. As such, World Book Day has become something of a tradition for the pair.

"It is basically mine and my daughter's favourite day of the year, other than Halloween," Melissa explained.

Whether or not this is the reason her son loves dressing up, Melissa is not sure, but she's happy so long as he is.

"There are some boys in his class that are refusing to dress up but Ellis is not that boy. He really loves it," she added.

"If he didn't love it, I would never have done it. He just wouldn't have done it - he's three. Don't mess with three-year-olds."

As to what Prince Harry might think of the costume, she's not sure, but hopes Ellis would get the royal seal of approval. She added: "I hope he would find it funny. I guess in a way it is promoting his book. I hope he would really like it. I hope they all would."

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