Prince Harry scaled Sydney’s iconic Harbour Bridge on October 19 to raise the Invictus Games flag. And just moments after reaching the summit, the caring prince wrapped his arms around an emotional war widow who had joined him on the climb.
Gwen Cherne, 41, who was one of the select group scaling the bridge with the prince, shared how a sympathetic Harry listened to the story of her late husband, Australian special forces officer Peter J. Cafe, who died by suicide in February 2017 at the age of 48.
Gwen said Harry asked about her children Emily, 6, Lachlan, 3, and stepson Tom, 19.
“Lachlan is the spitting image of my husband. Harry said something like the children must remind you of him, or live on in him. And I said my son is so much like him. It was comfortable and thoughtful.”
Gwen added that they also spoke about grief and loss, a subject Harry is devastatingly familiar with after losing his mother, Princess Diana in a 1997 Paris car crash.
“He understood what I meant. When you understand loss, I think it’s obvious,” she explained. “He did ask me if I was getting the support I need from the Defense and ex-servicemen and veteran community.”
