Harry meets 101-year-old Second World War veteran in Canada

The Duke of Sussex has met a 101-year-old Canadian Second World War navy veteran and other former servicepeople ahead of Remembrance Day.

Harry was all smiles as he watched veterans taking part in activities such as painting, ceramics and photography at the Sunnybrook Veterans Centre in Toronto.

He viewed military helmets decorated by veterans to reflect their experiences of service and remembrance, and was pictured lending a hand with one man’s artwork.

Among those the duke met was Brenda Reid, 101, who served at a women-run naval station in Nova Scotia during the Second World War and Harold Toth, 95, a Korean War veteran who enlisted with the Queen’s Own Rifles.

When asked by Harry about their war experiences, Ms Reid offered a playful warning about her fellow residents: “You can’t always believe the boys.”

The meeting was part of his two-day visit to Toronto to meet veterans, members of the armed forces community and military charities to mark the “Remembrancetide” period which spans the two-week period leading up to Remembrance Sunday.

Harry also spoke with veterans and active service members at a dinner event held by veterans’ organisation True Patriot Love Foundation, recalling his training at Canadian Forces Base Suffield, in Alberta, and how he served alongside Canadian Armed Forces members during his deployment in Afghanistan.

It comes after he expressed his pride at fighting for his country in a personal essay, and warned how easy it is for veterans to be forgotten “once the uniform comes off”.

Harry, who undertook two frontline tours to Afghanistan, spoke in an essay about serving alongside men and women from all four corners of the UK.

He called on people to remember “not only the fallen, but the living” who carry the “weight of war” and urged them to knock on veterans’ doors and “join them for a cuppa… or a pint” to hear their stories and “remind them their service still matters”.

In a personal 647-word piece titled “The Bond, The Banter, The Bravery: What it means to be British – By Prince Harry”, the duke acknowledged although he “currently” lives in the US, he reflects that “Britain is, and always will be, the country I proudly served and fought for”.

He described Remembrance as “not simply a minute’s silence” but “a call to collective responsibility”.