A Gloucestershire charity has thanked Prince Harry for comforting a bereaved young man who became emotional talking about the death of his father.
The Duke of Sussex, who lost his mother Princess Diana when he was 12, spent 10 minutes talking privately to 15-year-old Iestyn Jones about processing his grief on a visit to Bristol last week.
The pair then had a private discussion about how Iestyn was mourning the loss of his father and Harry&apos;s own personal experience of grief.
Now the boss of Winston&apos;s Wish has praised the 34-year-old royal and say more people should follow his example because the death of a parent is one of the most traumatic experiences a child will ever face.
Fergus Crow, CEO of Winston&apos;s Wish, said: "At Winston’s Wish we know how much it would help children and young people if more adults took the time to talk about death, and draw on their own experiences, so it’s amazing that the Duke of Sussex took the time to do this on his recent trip to Bristol.
"Meeting others who have experienced a death can help reduce the isolation frequently felt by bereaved children and young people.
"From our experience, we know that if topics like death and bereavement aren’t talked about with children, it can have a significant impact later on in life. Thank you, Harry."
The two spoke when Harry and his wife Meghan Markle visited the Empire Fighting Chance charity in the tough inner city neighbourhood of Easton in Bristol.
Realising that the young lad needed some space, he asked aides and workers at a boxing club in Bristol to leave the room while he comforted young Iestyn.
Harry has spoken previously about how taking up boxing gave him an outlet for aggression while he was struggling to cope with his grief and on the brink of a nervous breakdown when he was younger.
Iestyn from Kingswood near Bristol said: “It just got a bit emotional because he mentioned something.
"He knew some stuff about me and the same thing happened to me. We had a chat for about 10 minutes.
"When we had a group picture at the end he made sure I was standing next to him.
The national childhood bereavement charity which is based in Cheltenham says the experience of losing a parent can have lifelong consequences for emotional and mental wellbeing if the right support is not received at the right time.
It offers bereaved families face-to-face support via family meetings, individual sessions and groups, as well as offering regular drop-in sessions.