Back in May, Prince Harry was in London for three days. He built his schedule around the tenth anniversary service for the Invictus Games, which was held at St. Paul’s Cathedral and attended by several members of the Spencer family. He also attended a panel discussion about Invictus, and he got some face time with NATO high command (NATO is a huge supporter of the Invictus Games). Harry also did a special event for Scotty’s Little Soldiers, a private charity for which Harry still serves as patron. SLS focuses on the families of fallen soldiers and creates community for what we Americans call “gold star families.” Harry spent several hours at the SLS event, playing with kids and talking to widows and widowers. The BBC covered it and the British media was FURIOUS that Harry “upstaged” King Charles and Prince William.
Well, while Harry was at the SLS event in May, he also recorded a special video with a military widow named Nikki Scott. Scott co-founded the charity and she and Harry have probably known each other for more than a decade. This was a lovely and emotional one-on-one conversation about losing her husband and telling her kids that their father had died, and how her grief led her to start SLS. Harry told her: “What you’ve done is incredible, it is truly inspirational. I know that word gets thrown around a lot, but it is. And to see the difference in some of the kids here, Especially some of the kids I met previously in 2017, they’re different people. You can see that they’re still processing their grief, but this community of support is everything. It’s amazing.”
Harry also speaks about losing his mother and how difficult it was to process her death, and how he believed for years that grief meant that he had to be sad all the time to prove that he missed her. That’s something he spoke about at length as he was promoting Spare as well.
I glanced through the Telegraph’s coverage of this video – which was released ahead of the UK’s Armed Forces Day – and the newspaper notes that Harry spoke “with a hint of an American accent, saying ‘where do you wanna start?’ and pronouncing Scotty ‘Scoddy’.” Oh my god, you guys, a hint of an American accent??
Photos courtesy of Scotty’s Little Soldiers’ IG.
Any little thing will be used against them and this is all they got? Speaks with a bit of an American accent?
Horrors! Meghan is Americanizing our prince—you know, the one we don’t want anymore unless we can control him.
Exactly!!!
I mean, seriously, has anyone ever heard anyone pronounce it “Scoddy” in the U.S.? I haven’t. Those double Ts are there for a reason.
The British media, well at least the DM, aren’t crediting this video as part of the Scotty’s Little Soldiers charity at all. They’ve headlined it so it seems as if Harry went on some random show to whine about how hard it was to deal with his mother’s death.
And man, are the commenters dragging him for whining, again, about his ‘mommy’s’ death and how lots of children lose parents and get over it. Strange that they aren’t connecting this video to Scotty’s Little Soldiers because the photo of Harry and Nikki Scott clearly showcases Ms. Scott’s tee-shirt with ‘Scotty’s Little Soldiers’ on it in large print.
As someone who did lose a parent at a very young age, I’m disgusted with that attitude. You never get over it. NEVER. The memory is with you at every juncture of life, and it also comes at you when you don’t quite expect it (for example, I had a good, hard cry on my last birthday just because I realized that I’d reached an age my mother never did). I really hope those views are just people who hold some bizarre hatred of Harry, and don’t represent the opinions of British people as a whole.
I mean, I don’t understand why people are surprised when DM does DM things. It would be a weird day if they actually wrote a true story without any weird angle.
I’m surprised simply for the fact that they are dumping on a charity that was started in the U.K. by a woman whose husband was killed on active duty FOR YOUR EFFING COUNTRY, and she had to tell their kids their Dad wasn’t coming home. It is so disgusting to make anything this personal and heartwrenching about screaming at Harry to get over his Mom’s death.
I could see them being awful about a charity here in the U.S., but Scotty’s marched in the coronation parade! (I think, it could have been some other parade, who knows, y’all love to march in front of a monarch).
I wish all of these people the miserable lives they deserve.
I can’t watch the conversation- because i don’t want to cry at work this morning.
I will watch it later.
But it is stark and obvious how quickly the “conservative” SUPPORT THE TROOPS! crowd shows it doesn’t give a crap if it does not suit their agenda- which on the british side seems to be- Harry is bad and everything he touches is bad- and not worthwhile.
The royals won’t even acknowledge invictus b/c HARRY!!- but Invictus is about people who have sacrificed themselves for their country. The monarchy is worthless.
And this blends nicely with this morning’s story about Price Harry being honored at the ESPYs.
He is doing really good work, making a positive difference in the world. For people who really need it.
And no matter what- the press/palace/racists will find something to criticize.
His accent? Good lord.
Yes, they are very consistent, ironically, in their hypocrisy:
“Support the troops!” (unless it’s a veteran or an advocate you don’t agree with, like Prince Harry).
“Never criticize America or her leaders overseas!/Never side with America’s enemies” (unless a Democrat is in the White House then you can have summits bashing them in Hungary or align yourself with Putin).
“Cancel culture is abominable!” (unless it’s the then-Dixie Chicks, Colin Kaepernick, or Budweiser, then eff yeah!)
“We can’t have a President or national leader who has even been accused of cheating on their spouse or acting immorally!” (unless they are a Republican, then they can brag about it).
And so on and so on.
It’s like they stand for nothing other than winning over their political opponents. Everything else is negotiable.
Yup. They’re tribal, above all else.
Cue the vile attacks on Scotty’s Little Soldiers. The derangers and vipers can’t praise Harry for anything, not even comforting grieving children. So they’ll go after the charity.
It’s disgusting and oh so predictable.
I think Harry is doing such important, beautiful and life-affirming work with Invictus and Scotty’s. I just wish he also—and maybe he does, I’m just not aware of it—promoted the ideals of peace and peaceful solutions as integral to honoring the fallen and wounded. Must we accept endless wars as a given? Aren’t there better ways to solve our problems? Let’s make “Peace on Earth, Goodwill to All” a year round message.
I understand where you are coming from PinkOrchid, but I think there’s also value in understanding what you can positively impact and prioritizing that. William decided he was going to release a statement and bring about world peace, oh, and also solve homelessness except he didn’t actually do anything but make a declaration and look like a bumbling idiotic fool. Harry is not elected, he doesn’t even have an official role in the royal family or military anymore. He is just a man with a charity and a couple gigs to pay the bills trying to positively impact and give back to those who have served and their families.
Harry, unlike most of us, has been to an active war zone. Twice.
I’m sure he sees things as they are, quite realistically. As long as there are corrupt oligarchs, despots, totalitarian regimes, religious extremists and dictators around, humankind will continue to live underneath the shadow of war.
Putin invaded Crimea, and no one blinked an eye, or actually did anything. So he invaded Ukraine. Now there’s a war zone ~ 650 miles aerial distance from my home town, and less than 500 miles from our nation’s capital. It’s a new experience to have NATO airforce stationed around here doing reconnaissance flights.
So while the idea of peace is great and good, I don’t think we’ll ever get rid of war. Anywhere.
And that’s why I think it’s great Harry deals with the presence, the given circumstances, makes the best of it and supports organisations like Scotty’s Little Soldiers.
PinkOrchard, What Harry is doing is helping those who in many instances would be forgotten. It sounds like both Germany and Nigeria are now putting more money and effort into their wounded, injured and sick military service veterans. Scotty’s Little Soldiers is doing amazing work for the kids of parents who were killed while serving.
I think you need to look to the heads of state in order to accomplish peace. I think we will one day have world peace, but I don’t expect it to happen tomorrow. Give it a few decades.
I’m always equal parts amused, exasperated & disgusted by armchair critics who sit on their wide arses & criticism others for DOING and ACHIEVING.
Obviously there wasn’t an Invictus Games before H founded it. And as we know, he was inspired by th
e Warriir Games. So, as human beings hv done since time immemorial, he built a better mouse trap.
The same opportunity is available to anyone who sees things tht IG isn’t doing (never-ending tht such things are obviiusly NOT part of their aims & objectives.) By all means go out & build a better mouse trap than IG instead of sitting on sprawling arses and throwing darts at doers & achievers.
Thank you @Kingston. THIS, all day long!
Harry’s focus is on healing the entire family, not just the soldier. How effective do you think he would be if he pissed off the entire military community by suddenly making anti-war comments? He’s one of them, and that’s why he is so effective, both with Invictus and Scotty’s.
The furthest he has gone is wishing that there was no need for Invictus, because there are no more injured soldiers and childless parents, but that is never going to happen, so he wants Invictus to keep going so long as there is a huge need. I think that is pretty perfect.
I’m so inspired by Nikki Scott. and her ability to turn tragic loss into something so positive and supportive for other families. Brava!
Me too. I wish there was some way to know what turns people who have suffered unimaginable loss into a Nikki Scott or a Harry. I have never gone through anything nearly as horrifying, and I don’t really know what turns a person into a champion, out of grief, but we need more of them.
I am in so much awe of the parents of kids murdered in school shootings who have made it their mission to protect all children at school. I would like to think that is in me somewhere, but I really don’t think it is.
As the child of a vet (who, miraculously survived both Gulf Wars) IG and SLS always told me who Harry really was, despite the tabloids, long before he met Meghan.
This man’s heart is so big and I am so glad he found a partner to match and they are continuing the good work.
This is so sweet!
I’m a huge fan of supporting military members, and especially the families of those who have lost their lives. Big fan of Prince Harry’s work. But man, I can’t help but cringe a little at the “little soldiers” reference…the militarization of our culture/children. Our children are not soldiers.
Nikki Scott says in the video, they thought it important for children to feel supported by the organization that their missing parent was a part of. It’s about an understanding community that provides a link to the missing parent and helps them through their bereavement and grief process. “We can’t bring your parent back, but we can make sure you have the best support. Your parents served the country” And that SLS community continues even if they move out of military housing or otherwise lose military connection through daily living. I was impressed that her little baby girl learned so much about her dad’s military service, but then wound up triggered and penalized in school for reacting to thoughtless comments.
GrnieWnie, so would you be okay with the charity if they changed the name? Or, are you saying they shouldn’t be telling the kids about their parents and how they were killed? I don’t see how you can separate the military from the charity.
Every single person who saw these kids at the funeral of their parent probably said something like, “Your mother/father is a hero!”
How is it helpful to take away the last image these kids have of their parents, shipping off to war, as a soldier?
Still donating when I can.
So proud of the efforts and healing supported by this organization and sending my first donation!
I’m halfway through this video. It’s very good so far. Harry was only in the UK but he did a lot work while he was there.
Oh wow, I didn’t know how this charity was founded. That was very good conversation. It shows why Harry is the best person to represent it globally, considering the Invictus Games.
This is just heart-wrenching but important work. I wonder if the espy awards would mention other orgs like Scotty’s and wellchild and others or will it solely focus on the IG. I get wanting to keep it focused but I’d love for them to get that platform too.
Aren’t they UK-focused charities? I don’t think an American organization would make a point about that and they were founded by other people, Harry is their ambassador. The award for that charities would probably go to the founders themselves.
The rota can launch cringe worthy atracks at Willy’s behest, but the reality is talking and getting counseling enabled Harry to cope with his tumultuous upbringing and become a productive, functioning adult. He is not the brother consistently photographed with clinched fists, covering his penis with clasped hands or hunched over. Meghan has never flashed photographers or diplomats. The Willy embiggening campaign really doesn’t have much to work with and the constant manufactured criticism directed towards H and M isn’t a rational, lasting PR strategy. H and M left 4 and a half years ago and are never coming back to live.