Singer Peter Andre has opened up about how the death of Queen Elizabeth II has affected how he navigates explaining death to his children.
The singer and TV personality opened up about his difficulties discussing death with them in a recent column for OK!.
It came after Peter’s wife, 33-year-old physician Emily Andre, took their children Theo, five, and Millie, eight, as well as Peter’s daughter Princess, 15, to London on the day of the Queen’s funeral.
He also admitted that the funeral also brought back some painful memories about loss in his own family.
Peter Andre on concerns about discussing hard topics with children
In 2012, Peter’s brother Andrew passed away at the age of 54 – 10 months after being diagnosed with kidney cancer.
Upset, Peter didn’t let his kids Princess and Junior see their uncle towards the end of his life.
In his column, he revealed that the Queen’s funeral reminded him of this horrific event. He wrote: “It took me back to when we were sadly losing my brother. I just didn’t want them to see him like that and be hurting.”
View this post on Instagram
This reluctance to expose his children to death continued.
Emily suggested taking the children into London to experience the city after the Queen’s death but Peter, 49, had his doubts.
A lot of parents have spoken about explaining death to their young children and for me I don’t like to give too much information to the kids.
He said: “Millie and Theo don’t fully understand what has happened but Emily felt it was very important for them to experience it and be a part of history.
“A lot of parents have spoken about explaining death to their young children and for me I don’t like to give too much information to the kids. Of course you don’t want to hide them from it completely as otherwise they’ll never understand grief, but I don’t think you need to tell them everything about every sad thing that has happened.”
A brighter outlook
Elsewhere in his column, Peter tried to examine the bigger picture and not see his children being near the Queen’s funeral as a completely upsetting thing.
Peter explained that Emily and the children didn’t seem as hurt by their visit into London as he thought they would be.
He revealed that they said London was “so busy” but commented on a “calmness” in the air.
Emily also said the two-minute silence and singing God Save the King gave her “goosebumps”.
Read more: Peter Andre shares family photo with all his children to mark special occasion
Queen Elizabeth II died on September 8 2022 in her Scottish Balmoral home. She was 96 years old.
An estimated one million people lined the streets of London to pay their respects to Her Majesty. In the UK alone, 28 million viewers are said to have watched her funeral on TV.
What do you think? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know.