Prince Harry has written the foreword to a children’s book called Hospital by the Hill by Chris Connaughton. The book is for kids who have lost a parent during the pandemic, and it’s the story of a “young person coming to terms with the loss of their mother who was a frontline worker at a hospital.” The book will be released for Britain’s National Day of Reflection, which is March 23rd and it will be “free of charge to any child or young person in the country who has been affected by the loss of loved ones to COVID-19.” I mean…best to just make it free of charge to every kid so you don’t get children sobbing in bookstores and having to tell a book store employee that they lost a parent to Covid? You can read more about the project of creating the book here. And here’s Harry’s foreword:

If you are reading this book, it’s because you’ve lost your parent or a loved one, and while I wish I was able to hug you right now, I hope this story is able to provide you comfort in knowing that you’re not alone.

When I was a young boy I lost my mum. At the time I didn’t want to believe it or accept it, and it left a huge hole inside of me. I know how you feel, and I want to assure you that over time that hole will be filled with so much love and support. We all cope with loss in a different way, but when a parent goes to heaven, I was told their spirit, their love.

Now, I never met them, but I know this person was special to you, and they were someone incredibly kind, caring and loving because of where they chose to work. Helping others is one of the most important jobs anyone can ever do.

You may feel alone, you may feel sad, you may feel angry, you may feel bad. This feeling will pass. And I will make a promise to you – you will feel better and stronger once you are ready to talk about how it makes you feel.

I hope this book helps remind you of just how special your parent or loved one was. And how special you are too.

[From Harper’s Bazaar]

There were some tweets going around recently, with some personal stories from people in or around some of the mental health, bereavement and grief charities which are associated with Harry and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The stories were basically like: Harry is the only one who actually gave a sh-t whenever he visited. He was the one connecting with people and emotionally present. I’ve been thinking about that a lot, because that’s how Diana was too. There was a rawness to her emotional availability and vulnerability. That’s why she had such a high level of emotional intelligence, just like Harry. Anyway, what a nice project for Harry to be involved with.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.