Prince Harry held back tears as he visited a makeshift memorial to fallen soldiers in Kyiv this weekend.
The Duke of Sussex, 41, who made a surprise trip to Ukraine after a ‘pseudo-royal tour’ of the UK, was visibly emotional as he was shown the homage paid to veterans at Independence Square Maidan in the nation’s capital.
Adorned with keepsakes and portraits of the lives lost, it shows the devastating loss following Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
‘I don’t know how to describe it,’ he said, while audibly choked up. ‘It’s the most insanely sad yet beautiful thing.
‘The way that it’s been set out with the love and the attention and care that’s gone into every photograph, every flag every memento… it’s extraordinary.
‘I’ve never experienced anything like that before.’
He was there as part of his work for the Invictus Games and to support Ukraine’s tens of thousands of injured.
In another heartwarming moment from Harry’s Kyiv trip, he received a meaningful gift for his wife Meghan Markle.
Prince Harry held back tears as he visited a makeshift memorial to fallen soldiers in Kyiv this weekend
The Duke visited the country’s capital with a team from his Invictus Games Foundation after first gaining permission from his wife and the British government, he said.
According to a statement from his office, obtained by Reuters, his charity plans to help rehabilitate wounded soldiers.
During his visit, King Charles’s youngest son received two gifts from a Ukrainian businesswoman named Mariia Didkovska, who is running a project to provide financial support to the military hospital in Kyiv.
He was given a plate for Meghan with an inscription celebrating Kyiv taken from the writings of a famous Ukrainian poet and translator. It reads: ‘Kyiv stretches behind me in dreams.’
As she presented the plate, a visibly nervous Mariia, who runs a restaurant and a bar in Kyiv, said: ‘And this is for your wife.’
She added: ‘You are always welcome to Kyiv. Thank you a million times for everything you do.’
Earlier in the exchange, Mariia gave Harry a bottle of Victoire de la Dignité champagne encased in a wooden box, suggesting that it be saved for the ‘special day when we celebrate our victory’.
Accepting the bottle, the royal father-of-two replied: ‘Sooner rather than later.’
The Duke of Sussex, 41, who made a surprise trip to Ukraine after a ‘pseudo-royal tour’ of the UK, was visibly emotional as he was given a tour of the homage paid to veterans at Independence Square Maidan in the nation’s capital
Victoire de la Dignité is a special edition of a champagne from the French producer Champagne Pierre Morlet.
According to Forbes, Mariia’s project has already been able to support the hospital in buying new surgery and endoscopy equipment.
Meanwhile, Meghan celebrated the return of her ‘beau’ Prince Harry after his four-day visit to the UK, which included a reunion with his father.
The Duchess of Sussex, 44, commemorated the Duke’s return to Montecito – just in time for his birthday – with a post on the As Ever social media page.
In the Instagram story, the mother-of-two can be seen pouring two glasses of her own brand of wine on an ornately adorned wooden board outside, surrounded by flowers.
The Duke, who has now returned to the US and is celebrating his birthday today, also this weekend said his tell-all memoir Spare and Netflix series were ‘not about revenge’.
The royal also believes he didn’t air his ‘dirty laundry in public’. And he appeared to make a thinly veiled swipe at his brother Prince William as he said: ‘You cannot have reconciliation before you have truth.’
The royal made the comments during a visit to the war-torn nation just days after a 54-minute reconciliation meeting with his father King Charles III in a bid to rebuild their relationship.
He was there as part of his work for the Invictus Games and to support Ukraine’s tens of thousands of injured veterans
Adorned with keepsakes and portraits of the lives lost, it shows the devastating loss of lives following Russia ‘s invasion in February 2022
It was the first time the Prince had seen his father in 19 months, and although he says the ‘focus really has to be on my dad’ in the next year, he declared his ‘conscience is clear’.
During a sit-down interview with The Guardian in Kyiv, he said: ‘I know that [speaking out] annoys some people and it goes against the narrative.
‘The book? It was a series of corrections to stories already out there. One point of view had been put out and it needed to be corrected.’
He added: ‘I don’t believe that I aired my dirty laundry in public. It was a difficult message, but I did it in the best way possible. My conscience is clear.
‘It is not about revenge, it is about accountability.’
Harry also revealed the words of wisdom his wife, Meghan, gave him were to ‘just stick to the truth’.
Harry’s 416-page tome Spare made a series of jaw-dropping claims and laid bare the rift within the Royal Family.
One accusation aimed at his brother accused William of leaving Harry with visible ‘scrapes and bruises’ after an alleged attack.
Prince Harry pictured as he paid tribute to victims killed in recent Russian drone and missile strikes at the site of a heavily damaged apartment building in Kyiv
Harry posed for a picture with wounded Ukrainian serviceman Vasyl, 38, at the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War
He claimed: ‘[William] grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor.’
It also claimed William teased Harry about his panic attacks and that King Charles put his own interests above his second son, and saw Harry reference taking cocaine, marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms and his enjoyment of the TV show Friends.
The Duke of Sussex’s controversial memoir became the UK’s fastest-selling non-fiction book ever after being published by Penguin Random House in January 2023.
It comes after a royal source told the Daily Mail that the past week where Harry spent four days in the UK could be the start of Harry, Meghan and their two children being part of a ‘functioning wider family again’.
The King is said to be keen to rebuild his relationship with his son and wants to spend time with his grandchildren Archie and Lilibet, whom he has not seen for three years.
‘It’s become clear that Harry now regrets some of his actions. He wants to reset his relationship with his family and with the people of the UK,’ an insider has said.
‘It’s hard to see him ever coming back to live in Britain but this may be the start of something that at least allows them to be a functioning wider family again.’
It came after Prince Harry’s spokesman said he ‘loved’ being back in the UK and ‘catching up’ with his good causes and friends.
The Duke of Sussex wrapped up his trip with a visit to a charity set up in memory of his mother, one day after reuniting with the King.
Harry was met at the train station in Kyiv as he arrived in Ukraine at the invitation of Zelensky’s government
Harry and Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko visited the headquarters of the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers, which was damaged during a recent missile and drone attack
The Duke of Sussex described the monarch as doing well after a long-awaited reconciliation meeting at Clarence House. Pictured last week during a visit to take part in a panel discussion on how social action positively impacts mental health
Pictured: Prince Harry arrives for a visit to the Community Recording Studio in Nottingham last Tuesday
King Charles arrives at Clarence House, in London, ahead of a meeting with his son Harry . Pictured last week
His spokesperson gave an upbeat review of the UK tour, saying: ‘He’s obviously loved being back in the UK, catching up with old friends, colleagues and just generally being able to support the incredible work of the causes that mean so much to him.’
The Duke carried out his final engagement in Britain on Friday, an event linked to the Diana Award, in central London as he brought his four-day solo trip to a close.
In May, after losing his High Court battle with the Home Office, Harry himself told the BBC that he would ‘would love a reconciliation’ with the Royal Family, adding: ‘There’s no point continuing to fight any more, life is precious’.
The King reportedly begged his warring sons ‘not to make his final years a misery’ during an anguished meeting at Windsor Castle in 2023, but while Charles engaged with his son this week, the Prince of Wales refused to meet his brother despite being just a few miles apart at one point.
Last week, the Duke of Sussex described the monarch as doing well after a long-awaited reconciliation as, on Wednesday, he said of Charles: ‘Yes he’s great, thank you’ when asked about the catch-up during a reception for the Invictus Games, which he launched in 2014 as a tournament for injured service personnel and veterans.
Appearing relaxed, smiling and upbeat, Harry mingled with corporate sponsors and government ministers as he attended the event in The Gherkin, London, on September 10 ahead of a speech outlining the next 10 years of the Games.
Harry was spotted being driven into the royal residence in a black Range Rover before leaving in the same car just under an hour later.
Charles had flown to the capital after a stay at Balmoral in Aberdeenshire, and flew down without the Queen.
Harry, his driver, and bodyguard were said to have used the visitor’s entrance to Clarence House – rather than entering via the gate on The Mall which is used by members of the Royal Family.
