An emotional Prince Harry was almost in tears as he listened to horrific accounts of Brazilian children who lost their parents to drugs and violence.
An emotional Prince Harry was almost in tears as he listened to horrific accounts of Brazilian children who lost their parents to drugs and violence.
Hearing the harrowing tales visibly moved the young royal as he spent time visiting ACER, a project that offers underprivileged children an alternative way of life, in the town of Diadema outside of Sao Paulo.
As part of his week-long tour of South America, the humble Prince met with one woman who is bringing up her two granddaughters because their drug-dealer father is in jail and their mother was murdered.
And with tears welling up in his eyes, the 29-year-old became choked up when admitting that their heartbreaking stories made him remember his own mother’s death 17 years ago.
Princess Diana was tragically killed in a car crash in Paris in August 1997 when Prince Harry was just 12.
“I was completely overwhelmed and shocked,” Harry told reporters.
“I’ve never blubbed in public as far as I can remember but I was pretty damn close. It was amazing to hear those stories.”
At one point, His Royal Highness struggled to contain his emotions.
“There are two little girls – I’m quite emotional – just looking at them I wanted to talk about my own experiences. But there’s no point because it’s just so far removed,” he said.
“The bravery of them looking at me, smiling at me… I wanted to use my own experiences in a very small way to try to give them a bit of understanding about the fact that I see what they’re going through.
“But you hear the stories and think that’s nothing to what they’ve been through.”
Earlier this week, Prince Harry enjoyed a canoeing trip on Brasilia’s Paranoa Lake and spent time playing with children at Minas tennis club.
He also toured a local hospital that treats people with brain injuries.