On the occasion of the day of reflection in the United Kingdom next Tuesday on the anniversary of the first national closure, the Duke of Sussex has written the prologue to “Hospital by the Hill”, a book project of the charity to support pain Hampshire children, Simon Says.
It follows the story of a young man who coped with the death of his mother, who had been working at a local hospital on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis.
“If you’re reading this book, it’s because you’ve lost your parents or a loved one, and while I wish I could hug you right now, I hope this story can give you comfort in knowing that you’re not alone,” the message begins. of Harry.
He then draws on his own experience with grief at an early age and reflects on how it made him feel.
“When I was a little boy, I lost my mother. At that time I didn’t want to believe it or accept it, and it left a huge hole in me. I know how you feel and I want to make sure that over time this hole will be filled with so much love and support, ”Harry continues.
“We all deal with loss in a different way, but when a father goes to heaven, I was told that his spirit, his love and the memories of them are not. They are always with you and you can hold them forever. “I think that will be true.”
The prince ends the introduction by sharing his understanding of loneliness and pain, telling readers that the “feeling will pass.”
“And I’ll make you a promise: you’ll feel better and stronger once 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 in Kensington Gardens in London. The sculpture was commissioned by the Duke of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex and will feature what would have been the 60th anniversary of the Princess of Wales.
It will be the first time the two have seen each other since Harry moved to California with his family. Recently, Harry referred to a breakup with William in his session with Oprah.
“I think when you’re in pain at a very early age, at any time, but particularly at a young age, I can resonate a lot with that, you feel pain like no other, and you know that in your life it was very hard to find something that it will be even worse than that, ”William said.
“I can safely say that losing my mother at the age of 12 and therefore shutting down all my emotions for the last 20 years has had a pretty serious effect not only on my personal life, but also on my job,” said Harry. “Then I started having some conversations and suddenly all that pain I had never processed came to the fore. I said, ‘Actually, there are a lot of things I have to deal with here. ‘”
Simon Says founder Sally Stanley said the idea for a new book to help children in desolation of key workers came up last spring.
Stanley said the death of a loved one is “difficult at any time in the life of a child or young person,” but the measures introduced to fight the virus “make it much harder to say goodbye to the way we are used to it “. ”
“I hope this book helps children and young people remember their special person whose job it was to help others,” he added.
Author Chris Connaughton said he felt “privileged” by the opportunity to write the book and address these emotional issues for young people.
“I wanted him to provide connection, support and hope in the hard and horrible moments 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”.