To mark the UK’s day of reflection next Tuesday, on the anniversary of the first national blockade, the Duke of Sussex wrote the preface to “Hospital by the Hill”, a book project by the charity to support child mourning of Hampshire, Simon Says.
He tells the story of a young man facing the death of his mother, who worked at a local hospital on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis.
“If you are reading this book, it is because you lost your parents or a loved one and, although I wish I could hug you now, I hope that this story will be able to give you comfort in knowing that you are not alone”, begins the message from Harry.
He then draws on his own experience of grieving at a young age and reflects on how it made him feel.
“When I was a boy, I lost my mother. At the time, I didn’t want to believe or accept it, and it left a huge hole inside me. I know how you feel and I want to assure you that in time, that hole will be filled with a lot love and support, “continues Harry.
“We all deal with loss in a different way, but when a father goes to heaven, they told me their spirit, their love and their memories, not. They are always with you and you can hold them forever. I found that to be true. “
The prince ends the introduction by sharing his understanding of loneliness and pain, telling readers that the “feeling will pass”.
“And I’m going to make a promise to you – you’ll feel better and stronger when you’re ready to talk about how it makes you feel.”
Harry is expected to join his brother, William, in July, when a statue of Diana is installed at London’s Kensington Gardens. The sculpture was commissioned by the Duke of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex and is scheduled to open on what would have been the Princess of Wales’ 60th birthday.
It will be the first time the two have seen each other since Harry moved to California with his family. Harry recently mentioned a fight with William in his meeting with Oprah.
“I think that when you are mourning at a very young age – at any time, in fact, but particularly at a young age, I can agree with that – you feel a pain like no other, and you know that in your life you are going to be very difficult to find something that is even worse than that, “said William.
“I can safely say that losing my mom at age 12 and therefore shutting down all my emotions for the past 20 years has had a very serious effect not only on my personal life, but also on my work,” said Harry. “Then I started to have some conversations and then, all of a sudden, all this pain that I had never processed came to the surface. I was like, ‘Actually, there are a lot of things here that I need to deal with. ‘”
Simon Says founder Sally Stanley said the idea for a new book to help bereaved children of important workers came up last spring.
Stanley said the death of a loved one is “difficult at any point in the life of a child or young person”, but the measures introduced to fight the virus “make it much more difficult for them to say goodbye the way we are used to.”
“I hope this book will help children and young people to remember their special person, whose job it was to help others,” she added.
Author Chris Connaughton said he felt “privileged” for the opportunity to write the book and address such emotional issues for young people.
“I wanted to provide a connection, support and hope during the difficult and horrible times of mourning,” he said.
He added that it was an honor to have Prince Harry’s support for the project “and to share his open, sincere and honest words with children across the country.”