The Duke of Sussex shared a heartbreaking admission about the impact of his mother Princess Diana's death as he comforted a war widow during an emotional sit-down.
In a new video shared by Scotty's Little Soldiers which was recorded during his visit in May, Prince Harry, 39, spoke with the charity's founder Nikki Scott about the impact of bereavement on children.
Harry was just 12 when his mother was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997 and in recent years has opened up about the effect that Diana's death and grief had on him.
During the heartfelt discussion, Harry told Nikki: "You convince yourself that the person you've lost wants you, or you need to be sad for as long as possible to prove to them that they are missed. But then there's this realisation of, no they must want me to be happy."
As Nikki explained how Scotty's Little Soldiers teaches bereaved military children and young people to celebrate their parent's life, Harry spoke about the importance of not suppressing emotions, saying: "That's the hardest thing, especially for kids, I think, which is, 'I don’t want to talk about it because it will make me sad, but once realising if I do talk about it, and I'm celebrating their life, then actually, things become easier.'"
In an interview with Tom Bradby in January 2023 ahead of the publication of his memoir, Spare, Harry admitted that he only cried once following Diana's tragic passing – at her burial. He revealed in an interview with The Telegraph in 2017 that he had "shut down all his emotions" and said that he only began to address his grief when he was 28. Harry sought counselling and took up boxing.
In another emotional moment, the Duke looked visibly moved as Nikki recalled the harrowing moment she had to tell her five-year-old son Kai that his father, Corporal Lee Scott, had been killed while serving in Afghanistan in 2009…
Nikki told Harry: "It was the worst. How do you tell a 5-year-old this. I took him up and sat him on the bed and I said, 'Kai, do you remember where Daddy was?' and he said, 'yeah, Afghan', and I said, 'Something really bad has happened and the baddies (because he used to play Army) have hurt dad and he's died.'"
Scotty's Little Soldiers was set up by mother-of-two Nikki in 2010 with its aim to provide long-term support to other bereaved military children and young children.
As Harry shared a hug with Nikki, he told her: "What you've done is incredible. It is truly inspirational. I'm really honoured and privileged to be part of Scotty's now and I really look forward to us doing everything we can to bring in more people, more interest, raise more funds and be able to get the message out there to get more kids the support they so desperately need."
Watch the full video here.
Close to his heart
The charity – for which the Duke became a global ambassador last November – was one of seven which had been nominated by Harry and Meghan to benefit from donations marking the couple's wedding ceremony in 2018.
Harry has been involved with the charity since 2017 and recorded a special video message in 2022 dressed as Spider-Man for its children's Christmas party.
Scotty's Little Soldiers currently supports more than 670 bereaved military children and young people up to the age of 25, offering one-to-one bereavement support, guidance to parents and carers, fun activities such as holidays and group events, and learning assistance.