Prince Harry recently had a sitdown with Nikki Scott, the founder of Scotty’s Little Soldiers. The charity dropped a video on June 26 featuring the Duke of Sussex talking to the charity’s founder before Armed Forces Day in the U.K. This day is celebrated annually on the last Saturday in June, honoring the military community, including active personnel, veterans, cadets, and service families.
Sitting with Prince Harry, Scott recalled a day in July 2009 when she learned of her husband’s death. Back then, her son Kai was 5 years old, and her daughter Brooke was 7 months old. The founder started questioning about how to tell her children that their dad had passed away.
“It sounds so corny, but I started to think, ‘How many other children have had a parent who’s died?'” Scott said. Prince Harry responded, “There’s nothing corny about that.”
Prince Harry, who lost his mother, Princess Diana, when he was 12 years old, has supported Scotty’s Little Soldiers since 2017. The charity was established after the husband’s death, and it now helps over 680 young people through various programs and a community network. Prince Harry congratulated Scott for her work and the support she’s given to these kids.
“For you, for an adult, it seems to be the same. You convince yourself that the person you’ve lost, you need to be sad for as long as possible to prove to them that they’re missed. But then, there’s this realization of, ‘No, they must want me to be happy.'”
He then said, “What you’ve done now is not only transitioned to that with not only the memories… but then the smiles you put on all these kids’ faces. That’s the medicine. That’s the antidote to the loss.”