On the occasion of the British reflection day this Tuesday on the anniversary of the first national lockdown, the Duke of Sussex has written the foreword to ‘Hospital by the Hill’, a book project by the Hampshire Child Reavement Support Charity, Simon Says.
It follows the story of a young person dealing with the death of their mother, who had worked in a local hospital on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis.
“If you’re reading this book it’s because you’ve lost your parent or a loved one, and while I wish I could hug you now, I hope this story can comfort you in knowing you’re not alone,” Harry’s message.
He then draws on his own experience of bereavement at a young age and thinks about how it made him feel.
“When I was a young boy I lost my mother. At the time I didn’t want to believe or accept it, and it left a huge hole in me. I know how you feel, and I want to assure you. that hole will be filled with so much love and support, ”continues Harry.
“We all deal with loss in different ways, but when a parent goes to Heaven, I was told that their spirit, their love, and the memories of them are not. always hold onto this to be true. “
The prince ends the introduction by sharing his understanding of loneliness and grief and telling readers that the “feeling will pass.”
“And I’ll make you a promise – you’ll feel better and stronger when you’re ready to talk about how you feel.”
Harry is expected to join his brother William in July, when a statue of Diana is installed in Kensington Gardens in London. The statue was commissioned by the Duke of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex and will be unveiled on what would have been the Princess of Wales’s 60th birthday.
It is the first time the couple have seen each other since Harry moved to California with his family. Harry recently referred to a breakup with William in his sit-down with Oprah.
“I think when you get a grief at a very young age – anytime actually, but especially at a young age, I can resonate closely with that – you feel pain like no other pain, and you know it’s going to be very be hard to come across something that will be more painful than that, ”said William.
“I can safely say that the loss of my mother at the age of 12 and therefore turned off all my emotions for the past 20 years, has had a pretty serious effect on not only my personal life, but also my work,” said Harry . “Then I started having a few conversations and then all of the sudden all this grief that I had never processed came to the fore. I thought, ‘There are actually a lot of things here that I am dealing with.’
Simon Says founder Sally Stanley said the idea for a new book to help the next of kin of key 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 taken to combat the virus “ make it much more difficult for them to say goodbye as we are used to. . . ”
“I hope this book will help children and youth remember their special someone whose job it was to help others,” she added.
Author Chris Connaughton said he felt “privileged” to have the opportunity to write the book and address such emotional issues for young people.
“I wanted it to provide a connection, support and hope during the difficult and awful times of bereavement,” he said.
He added that it was an honor to have Prince Harry’s support for the project “and to share his open, heartfelt and honest words with children across the country.”