Keller @ Large: Why It's OK For Public Figures To Express Their Grief

BOSTON (CBS) - Sometimes two stories will appear on the same day that graphically illuminate an important topic, two pictures painting a thousand words each, if you will.

That happened Monday, with a report about an extraordinary interview given by Britain's Prince Harry about the psychological suffering he endured after the sudden death of his mother, Princess Diana, back in 1997 when he was 12 years old.

Millions of people around the world mourned her passing, but Harry now says he never really had an opportunity to do so, stiff upper lip and all that.

Says Harry now: "Losing my mum at the age of 12, and therefore shutting down all of my emotions for the last 20 years has had a quite serious effect on not only my personal life but my work as well.''

What a sad story.

But surely we're past the point in our culture where someone in the public eye is pressured to suppress their grief over a loved one's passing, aren't we?

Apparently not.

We were also treated Monday to an uproar over on-air remarks made by former NBA player turned commentator Charles Barkley, who remarked that the moving scenes of Celtics star Isaiah Thomas, grieving over his sister's tragic death before Sunday night's game, were "not a good look. That makes me uncomfortable," added Barkley. "That tells me he's not in shape to play."

Not only was Barkley's analysis wrong, what with Thomas going on to play a terrific game, but stigmatizing an expression of honest emotion sounds like a throwback to the Stone Age.

Thank goodness the trend is more towards Harry's candor than Barkley's backwardness.