Prince Charles has met with the families of those still missing from the Yugoslav Wars.
The 68-year-old royal pledged his personal support to the families who had lost loved ones during the conflicts of the 1990s, in emotional scenes which saw Charles break royal protocol as he embraced those who are still searching for answers.
By the end of the war in 2001, an estimated 40,000 people had been reported missing, with 12,000 remaining unaccounted for to this day.
Prince Charles’ also gave an impassioned speech to the families affected by the war – which saw over 140,000 people killed between 1991 and 2001 in former Yugoslavia – where he expressed how deeply moved he had been when hearing stories from those who had gone missing during a visit to Kosovo last year.
He said: "In the months since I have thought a great deal about those stories and have been determined to do something to support you, the families, in your exceptional work to promote reconciliation and justice.
"Loss always brings grief but I know how easily loss can also bring despair at the pointless cruelty and destruction we witness in our world and at our own inability to understand it.
"When we do not know what has happened to our loved ones there is no closure to that grief – no remedy for our despair."
And the Prince also said the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) – who have already helped to identify 28,000 of the 40,000 missing loved ones – will help to offer a "model of reconciliation".
He added during his speech: "Only reconciliation offers the assurance that our children and grandchildren will not suffer the same agonies as our own generation has endured.
"It is my profound hope that your countries will be changed by your quest for truth through cooperation and that by working together with the International Commission on Missing Persons you will offer a model of reconciliation that will inspire others around the world.
"That work requires tremendous courage, the courage I believe we must all try to summon from the depth of our souls, however great the pain."
Prince Charles meets with families affected by Yugoslav wars
