In a video, Prince Harry comforts a mother who recounts the moment she had to tell her son that his father had been killed in Afghanistan.
In the run-up to Armed Forces Day on Saturday, the bereaved charity Scotty’s Little Soldiers is supporting Military Children, filmed the interview between founder Nikki Scott and the Duke of Sussexin which he also describes his own feelings about the loss of his mother.
In July 2009, Nikki learned of the death of her husband, Corporal Lee Scott, who served with the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment. She had to break the news to her five-year-old son, Kai, while also caring for her seven-month-old daughter, Brooke.
In a heartbreaking conversation with Harry, she says: “It was the worst. How do you tell that to a five-year-old?
“I picked him up, put him on the bed and asked: ‘Kai, do you remember where Papa was?’ And he said: ‘Yes, Afghan‘ and I said, ‘Something really bad happened and the bad guys (because he used to army) I hurt Dad and he died.'”
She burst into tears and described the pain of “destroying her son’s world.”
Nikki’s personal tragedy inspired her to set up Scotty’s Little Soldiers in 2010 to help other children. Prince Harry is the group’s global ambassador and the conversation was filmed when he visited the UK and surprised children at a Scotty’s event in May.
In her chat, Nikki also mentions Harry’s experience, his Mother Princess Diana when he was only 12 years old, and as in his book Spare part He talked about visiting the tunnel in Paris where she died.
Harry explained to her how difficult it is to deal with his feelings of loss: “Either you convince yourself that the person you have lost wants you, or you have to be sad for as long as possible to prove to the person that you miss them.”
“But then I realize: No, they definitely want me to be happy.”
He is a huge advocate of the importance of talking about mental health, saying: “That’s the hardest thing, especially for children, I think. It’s, ‘I don’t want to talk about it because it makes me sad. But once I realise I’m talking about it and celebrating their life, then it actually gets easier.'”
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Scotty’s Little Soldiers currently supports over 680 children, but estimates that each year 2,100 children lose a parent who has served in the British Armed Forces.
To raise awareness of the ongoing need for help, the charity has also recorded videos in the run-up to Armed Forces Day in which some of the young people share their stories about their parents and “remember their heroes”.
