Prince Harry comforts grieving widow and tells palace aides ‘I’m in the middle of a conversation’ as they try to hurry him along

A widow has praised Prince Harry for not allowing his aides to rush him away as they discussed her loss and mental health.

The two spoke as the Duke of Sussex scaled Sydney Harbour Bridge to raise an Invictus Games flag last week.

He got into a conversation with one of the group who climbed the site with him, Gwen Cherne, who told the royal how she had lost her husband to suicide in February 2017, when he was 48.

The 41-year-old told People how the pair spoke for around ten minutes on the descent, in which he asked how she and her family were coping.

As an entourage tried to move Prince Harry along, he insisted upon continuing their talk.

Ms Cherne said: “He stopped and said, ‘I’m in a middle of a conversation, and I’m not going to leave this'.

“We were talking about my story and mental health and how difficult it is still, in our society, to talk about grief and loss and suicide. And how important things like the Invictus Games are to shedding light on, and allowing people to start to have these conversations that are great to have.”

Detailing their talk more, she said how the Prince had asked if her three children reminded her of her late husband, Peter J. Cafe, who had been an Australian special forces officer.

“Lachlan [her three-year-old son] is the spitting image of my husband," she said.

"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.”

Ms Cherne, originally from Cleveland, Ohio, has a six-year-old daughter called Emily and 19-year-old step son, Tom.

She said they discussed “grief and loss” and it was clear he understood this, having lost his mother, Princess Diana, at age 12.

“He understood what I meant. When you understand loss, I think it’s obvious,” Ms Cherne said.

As well as this, she praised Prince Harry, and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, for “doing so much good with their place in the world, using their power and their privilege”.

Ms Cherne is an advisor for widows, veterans and families for the Australian Department of Veterans Affairs and also an Invictus Games Ambassador.

On Friday, the royal couple will return to Australia to see competitors take part in the Invictus Games.