Prince’s words of comfort to bereaved children

Prince’s words of comfort to bereaved children

Prince William told of the emptiness he feels on Mother's Day as he spoke to children who have lost parents or brothers and sisters.Speaking for the first time in public about his mother’s death, William said he understood "that losing a close family member is one of the hardest experiences that anyone can endure"."Never being able to say the word 'Mummy' again in your life sounds like a small thing. However for many, including me, it is now really just a word - hollow and evoking only memories."

The prince gave the speech at an art gallery in London last night (Thursday), when he agreed to become patron of the Child Bereavement Charity, a charity that his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, his mother, helped launch."Life," said Prince William, "is altered as you know it." Even as a young adult the 'child within' yearns for how things used to be, he said. William, who was 15 when he lost his mother, his younger brother Harry only 12, is no exception to this rule. Not a day goes by, he said yesterday, when he does not think of her.

The charity has launched a Remember on Mother's Day campaign, after its work with bereaved families revealed how difficult many find the day.The prince said he could "wholeheartedly relate" to its campaign. "I too have felt, and still feel, the emptiness on such a day as Mother's Day."Speaking with bereaved families at the event, William said he had tried to "blank" his mother's death in 1997, when he was 15. "Everyone has their own way of dealing with it," he told one family.

Julia Samuel, one of the founders of the charity and a friend of Diana's, said the prince's support would help "shine a light on these areas of family life which are almost unbearable to think about".She said: "I cannot even begin to say how delighted we are that Prince William has agreed to be our Patron. It will make a huge difference to raising awareness of the charity and its work in supporting families and professionals when the unthinkable happens - when a parent has a child die or when a child is bereaved of a parent or sibling."

Ray Winters has had support from the Child Bereavement Charity for his children, Sam age 13 and Rachel age 7, since their mother died in 2006. Of meeting Prince William, Sam said: "I was so pleased to meet Prince William. I think we are the same, really, because neither of us has a Mum."The Child Bereavement Charity was founded 15 years ago to provide specialist support to families when a child dies or a child is bereaved.

By Hayley Jarvis for SOS Children