In a moment that will be etched forever in the memory of one young Auckland boy and his grandmother, Prince Harry stopped to speak to them during his and Duchess Meghan’s walkabout at Auckland’s Viaduct Harbour on Tuesday.
But what made this moment special, and has touched hearts around the world, was the words of encouragement that Prince Harry spoke to the six-year-old boy, Otia Nante, when he found out Otia had lost his mother when he was nearly one.
As Prince Harry stopped to shake their hands and accept a letter from Otia, the young boy’s grandmother, Te Nante, said, “This is my grandson; his name is Otia. He wrote you a letter this morning. He really looks up to you because he lost his mother too.”
Prince Harry asked Otia how old he was when he lost his mum and was told that Otia was nearly one. Otia is raised by his grandmother.
“I can say don’t you worry about having just one parent,” Prince Harry reassured the boy.
“Life will always be alright, you know that? Yeah? I made it to 34 years old and life is great. I have a beautiful wife and a baby on the way. Your life is going to be sorted, don’t you worry about that.”
Onlookers said Prince Harry also acknowledged Otia’s grandmother. “You’re doing a great job, Nan,” he said. “Nans are so important in our lives.”
Prince Harry was 12 years old when his mother, Princess Diana, was killed in a car accident in Paris, France.
On the 20th anniversary of her death he and brother Prince William spoke about their mother for the first time in a TV documentary that aired on ITV, Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy.
Prince William explained, “Part of the reason why Harry and I want to do this is because we feel we owe it to her. I think an element of it is feeling like we let her down when we were younger. We couldn’t protect her. We feel we at least owe her 20 years on to stand up for her name and remind everybody of the character and person that she was. Do our duties as sons in protecting her.”
Prince Harry, 32 at the time, added: “When she died there was such an outpouring of emotion and love which was quite, which was quite shocking. It was beautiful at the same time, and it was amazing, now looking back at it, it was amazing that our mother had such a huge effect on so many people.
“When you’re that young and something like that happens to you I think it’s lodged in here, there, wherever – in your heart, in your head and it stays there for a very very long time. I think it’s never going to be easy for the two of us to talk about our mother, but 20 years on seems like a good time to remind people of the difference that she made not just to the Royal Family but also to the world.”
Prince Harry remembered his mum as “one of the naughtiest parents. She was our mum. She still is our mum. And of course, as a son I would say this, she was the best mum in the world. She smothered us with love, that’s for sure.”
