Prince Harry opens up on ‘missing’ mum Diana after birth of baby Archie

Just hours after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex proudly debuted their new son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor to the world, Prince Harry jetted off to the Netherlands to launch the countdown to the Invictus Games.

And, while there, the new dad opened up about the death of his mother Princess Diana more than two decades ago, telling a former soldier that losing a mother is like “missing some kind of security” in a candid chat on Thursday.

According to British newspaper The Sun, Harry spoke openly to veteran Dennis van der Stroon, who is also about to become a father for the first time, about how baby Archie has given him a “new focus” since making his way into the world just four days ago.

“I told Harry about my mother and we talked about our shared experience of missing a mom,” van der Stroon told the newspaper. “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.”

He added: “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.”

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Read more: All the beautiful pictures of new royal baby Archie Harrison revealed

The duke, who founded the Invictus Games in 2014, had been due to fly to Holland on Wednesday, however his trip was postponed by one day as wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, did not deliver their son until the early hours of Monday.

Before before leaving the UK though, Harry and his wife of almost one year gave the world a first glimpse of their gorgeous baby boy, who slept peacefully throughout the photo op on Wednesday, swaddled in a white blanket.

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The couple beamed with pride as they showed off their first child, as Prince Harry joked: “He’s already got a little bit of facial hair as well, wonderful!”

New mum Meghan also added: “He has the sweetest temperament, he’s really calm,” to which Harry joked: “I don’t know who he gets that from!”

Meghan, whose mum Doria Ragland was also with her daughter throughout the final stages of her pregnancy, also described her happiness at having the “two best guys in the world”.

What are your thoughts on this story? Have you experienced the loss of someone very close to you?