In celebration of the UK’s reflection day next Tuesday on the anniversary of the first national exclusion, the Duke of Sussex wrote the foreword to ‘Hospital by the Hill’, a book project by the charity Hampshire, child addiction, Simon Says.
It follows the story of a young person dealing with the death of their mother, who worked at the local hospital at the forefront of the coronavirus crisis.
‘If you’re reading this book, it’s because you lost a parent or a loved one, and although I wish I could embrace you at the moment, I hope this story can give you comfort in knowing that you are not alone, Harry’s message began.
He then makes use of his own experience of mourning at a young age and reflects on how it made him feel.
“When I was a young boy, I lost my mother. I did not want to believe or accept it at the time, and it left a big hole inside me. I know how you feel, and I want to assure you that with over time, that hole will be filled with so much love and support, “Harry continues.
“We can all deal with the loss in a different way, but when a parent goes to heaven, I was told that their spirit, their love and the memories of it are not. They are always with you and you can do it forever. “I think it’s true.”
The prince ends the introduction by sharing his understanding of loneliness and sadness and telling readers that the “feeling will pass.”
“And I will make a promise to you – you will feel better and stronger as soon as you are 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 Kensington Gardens in London. The sculpture was unveiled by the Duke of Cambridge and Duke of Sussex on the 60th birthday of the Princess of Wales.
This is the first time the couple has seen each other since Harry moved to California with his family. Harry recently referred to a breakup with William in his sit-up with Oprah.
‘I think if you are sad at a very young age – anytime really, but especially also at a young age, I can relate to it now – you feel pain like no other pain, and you know that in you ‘life is going to be very difficult to come up with something that is going to be even worse than that,’ William said.
“I can safely say that I lost my mother at the age of 12 and turned off all my emotions for the past twenty years, not only my personal life, but also my work, had a serious impact,” he said. Harry said. ‘Then I started having some conversations and then all this sadness that I had never dealt with came to the fore. I was like, ‘There are actually a lot of things I have to deal with here. ”
Simon Says, founder Sally Stanley, said the idea for a new book to help bereaved children of key workers arose 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 put in place to combat the virus make it much harder for them to say goodbye. as we are used to. . ”
“I hope this book will help children and young people 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 tackle such emotional issues for young people.
“I wanted it to provide a connection, support and hope through the difficult and terrible 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.”