Prince Harry lost his "security" when his mother died.
The 34-year-old royal – whose wife, Duchess Meghan, gave birth to their son Archie earlier this week – was just 12 years old when Princess Diana passed away in a car crash and he reflected on her absence when he met with Invictus Games competitors in The Hague on Thursday (09.05.19).
Former soldier Dennis van der Stroon – whose own mother passed away in 2014 told reporters: "I told Harry about my mother and we talked about our shared experience of missing a mum.
"He said missing a mother is like missing some kind of security, how you need that as a son and it falls away when you lose your mother. He said he meets a lot of people in his work who have lost a mother, father, sister, brother or relatives and when he hears their story, as he heard my story, he said he doesn’t feel so alone."said missing a mother is like missing some kind of security, how you need that as a son and it falls away when you lose your mother."
And after learning Dennis is set to become a father for the first time, Harry told him how "special" he was finding parenthood – particularly as little Archie is "very quiet".
Dennis added: "At a certain moment, we just got connected on this level.
"We talked about how my wife, Mireille, is 20 weeks pregnant with our first child, a girl, and he told me how special it was that his son has just been born.
"Harry talked about how having a small child was his new focus and new goal and I told him how a couple of months ago, I was struggling with my mental health but my wife’s pregnancy has given me a goal.
"Above all he said he was just amazed by the miracles in the world, and how his child has made a lot of people happy. He also told me he’s really happy that his son is so far very quiet.
"But he also told me not to make too many plans and that there’s no way you can plan for when the baby arrives."
J.J. Chalmers, a former Royal Marine and an Invictus Games medallist is friends with the prince and revealed Harry told him fatherhood is "amazing" but "hard work".
He added: "He said that [Archie] slept for the first 24 hours like all babies do…and then he woke up.
"I see the guy with a buzzing smile on his face still.
"Like any father he lights up even more when he speaks about his son and how proud he is of his wife and what she’s doing right now in his absence."
Prince Harry lost ‘security’ when Diana died
