Harry Dunn mother speaks of ‘undeserved' MBE for being ‘mum who was just broken'
The mother of a teenage motorcyclist, killed by a US citizen who was able to leave the UK under diplomatic immunity laws, has said she feels 'undeserving' of her MBE because she was 'a mum who was just totally broken'.
Charlotte Charles, the mother of 19-year-old Harry Dunn, said her work on road safety following the crash that resulted in her son's death in 2019 was an 'avenue to direct my grief down'.
Harry was killed when a Volvo driven by then-US state department employee Anne Sacoolas hit him while on the wrong side of the road outside RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire.
Sacoolas had diplomatic immunity asserted on her behalf following the crash and she was able to leave the country 19 days later.
Mrs Charles, alongside Harry's father Tim Dunn, campaigned for justice for three years – which included a meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House.
Speaking about her reaction to when she received the letter telling her she had been made an MBE, Mrs Charles, 50, told the PA news agency: 'One of a bit of bewilderment, I guess.
'I couldn't be happier on behalf of Harry, if I'm honest.
'I just always wanted to make sure his death led to change, and if it means that a few more lives are saved, and victims of a serious crime are treated a little bit better, and that the roads in and around our bases in the UK are safer, then I'm thrilled to accept the award on behalf of him.
'But I don't think it's sunk in yet.'
She continued: 'I think when I received the letter I just felt almost a little bit undeserving – because you don't forget all of the achievements that you've worked so, so very hard to secure. But at the end of the day I just view myself as a mum who was just totally broken.
'I didn't know any other way of coping apart from focusing on as many positive things as I possibly could.
'It was an avenue to direct my grief down – so for me, the last five-and-a-half years… campaigning for one more string to the bow of Harry's legacy was a real focus.
'So for it to be honoured and recognised feels a little bit surreal because I was just doing what I desperately needed to do at the time – which was to try and secure safety and a better understanding of everything that we had been going through.
'So it just feels quite surreal.'
Questioned on whether she felt her work on road safety and changing the laws regarding diplomatic immunity would be recognised in such a way, she said: 'No, not at all – it's the furthest thing from your mind.
'All you're thinking about at the time is to just try to make sure that what happened to us just never happened to anybody else.
'When Anne Sacoolas left the country and jumped through what we discovered was a loophole – that was one of the main things on my radar, to get that loophole closed.
'Then you start looking more widely.'
She added: 'You work on these things and you do your absolute best at the time for what you have in your head and what changes you want to make for the sake of healing your heart a little bit more.
'But you never ever think that a recognition like this is going to come along – it's just not in your realms of thinking at all.'
Mrs Charles, and the rest of the Dunn family, are expecting a parliamentary inquiry to be announced soon before the sixth anniversary of Harry's death in August.
She told PA: 'I would say that we have been more at peace since justice was done.
'In our eyes, we did achieve what we set out to achieve.
'We were able to show that those who think they are above the law aren't – certainly not in our country.
'We can't control other countries' laws and regulations but we had a lot of faith and hope in our justice system.
'So to be able to achieve that was incredible, and I think the overall feeling is one of peace.
'I carried out that promise to Harry – and the public and the media, and eventually our own Government, helped us to achieve that.
'Life is still really hard – if I'm honest we're still trying to work out what our life is without Harry.
'You constantly live with that pain and that sense of sheer loss – but certainly I can say on behalf of myself and the family that we do have a better sense of peace in our broken hearts now.'
Asked if her MBE was on behalf of her son, she said: 'Absolutely it's on behalf of Harry.
'My love for him has got me through all of the fights that we've had to have to get to where I am today.
'So the award is absolutely on behalf of Harry, yes.'
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