Prince Harry (34) and Duchess Meghan (37) met Viv Johnston (62), mother of Danny Johnston (35), shortly before the Endeavour Awards last week. The Endeavour Fund Awards is a ceremony celebrating soldiers and military personnel who were injured or fell ill whilst serving their country and have used sport and adventurous challenge to help them recover from their injuries.
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Danny Johnston hanged himself last year after losing his battle with post-traumatic stress disorder. Prince Harry wrote to Viv Johnston when he heard the sad news and wanted to meet Viv in person to express his condolences and to reassure her that they would do all they could to help veterans and service personnel suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Danny's mother revealed to the Mirror how much the meeting meant to her, saying, "I was amazed, a bit nervous but very excited. We were shown to a private room and Harry and Meghan came in. They were absolutely wonderful".
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In fact, Harry and Meghan spent so long talking to Danny's mother that they arrived late at the awards ceremony, but Harry felt that Viv's grief should come first. Viv told the Mirror: "Three very panicked blokes came in at one stage and said, 'Sir, we have to go, people are waiting' and (Harry) said, 'Well, I'm talking,' and we carried on chatting".
Arriving at the ceremony afterwards, both Meghan and Harry were wearing black wristbands with inscribed with the All Call Signs logo, an organisation that runs a communication app for veterans and serving military personnel with a chat service for those struggling with the stresses and struggles of life in the armed forces.
"They were both so genuine and were really sad to hear about what happened to Dan but they were also really interested in the All Call Signs organisation. Harry wanted to know why and how it was set up and how the organisation worked. I then asked if he would like an All Call Signs wristband. I expected someone to take them away once I handed them over but both he and Meghan smiled, said thank you and put them straight on."
