Prince Harry has opened up about the death of his mother as he encouraged children to talk about their emotions in a new video.

The Duke of Sussex met with Scotty’s Little Soldiers, a charity he’s a global ambassador for, as he admitted he “suppressed” his grief when Princess Diana died. Harry was just 12 years old when his mother was killed in a car crash in Paris.

Harry said: “It’s so easy as a kid to think or convince yourself….you convince yourself that the person you’ve lost wants you, or you need to be sad for as long as possible to prove to them that they are missed. But then there’s this realisation of, no, they must want me to be happy.”

Opening up about his own experience, Harry added: “That’s the hardest thing, especially for kids, I think, which is, ‘I don’t want to talk about it because it will make me sad’, but once realising that if I do talk about it, I’m celebrating their life, then actually, things become easier’ as opposed to this ‘I’m just not going to talk about it, and that’s the best form of coping’, when in fact it’s not.”

He admitted it can help someone cope “for a period of time,” but added: “You can’t suppress it for ever. It’s not sustainable. And will eat away at you inside.

“No-one wants to in the position where they are forced to talk about the very thing they don’t want to talk about, especially when every defence mechanism in your mind, nervous system and everything else is saying ‘do not go there’.”

The emotional video comes following Harry’s visit to the charity back in May. The Duke of Sussex was pictured chatting and playing games with bereaved military children as part of a fun-filled event hosted in London by Scotty’s Little Soldiers.

He spent the day with 50 children and young people, aged between six and 22, who have experienced the death of a military parent. Harry also spent time talking to nine members from Scotty’s Council, a group of young people who represent the charity’s other members, who discussed their experiences of growing up without a parent.

After the visit, Harry said: “It was an honour to meet so many of the wonderful families Scotty’s Little Soldiers supports. I have long believed in the mission of this charity, and I truly believe the work they do to foster community and create space for young people to connect, grieve, but also have fun together is life-changing. I am a huge supporter of their work, and very proud to be their first global ambassador.”

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