Prince Harry says he understood that Princess Diana would have wanted him to be happy

In November 2023, the Prince Harry has formalized its long association with the charity Scotty’s Little Soldiers, becoming a global ambassador for the UK-based group which supports the children of soldiers fallen in action. On Thursday, Scotty’s Little Soldiers published an interview Harry conducted with the organization’s founder to talk about their respective experiences of grief and military service. He spoke to Nikki Scott, the widow of Corporal Lee Scott, killed in Afghanistan in 2009, about the process she faced when she told her son of her husband’s death.

Harry spoke about his feelings after learning of his mother’s death and how this inspired him to get involved in the association: «I was 12 years old», he said, «I was an adult, but it seems that the situation is the same: you convince yourself that the person you lost wants you or that you need to be sad for as long as possible to show them that you miss them. Then… you realize that no, they must want me to be happy.”

Scott founded the organization after the loss of her husband, when she realized there were few grief resources available for children of service members. Since its founding in August 2010, the organization has supported 650 children who lost parents in combat. “It’s my life now,” Scott said. “Seeing the young people is the best thing. Hearing the stories of the team when they’re working with a child or a family who are just starting out on their journey or have reached a point where they’re in complete darkness, and then hearing how they can change their lives because of Scotty’s support. It’s just phenomenal.”

During the conversation, Scott said she had read the memoir Spare of Harry of 2023 and of having identified with the part where she talked about the feeling of rejection after learning of her mother’s death, Princess Diana. “I have dreams—it’s interesting, you know, I read your book—just about denial that it didn’t really happen,” she said. «To this day I still wake up and think: “It was like wanting to hide my head in the sand”.

Prince Harry first got involved with Scotty’s Little Soldiers in 2017 and 2018, alongside his wife Meghan Marklehas allocated part of the charity funds raised on the occasion of their wedding to support ongoing operations. Harry told Scott that he realized the charity had an impact from his first meetings with the children it supports.

«What you have done is incredible. It’s really inspiring, and I know this word gets thrown around a lot, but it is, and to see the difference in the kids,” she said, “especially some of the ones I met earlier, in 2017: they’re different people. You can tell they are still processing their grief, but this community of support is everything to them.”.