UK – Britain’s Prince William fought back tears as he discussed the impact of suicide with a woman whose husband took his own life, in a video released Friday to mark World Mental Health Day.
The heir to the throne talked with campaigner Rhian Mannings, whose husband Paul died in 2012, five days after their one-year-old son George died following a seizure.
William (43) became visibly emotional after asking Mannings what she would have said to her husband, as the two sat talking in her kitchen in Cardiff, Wales.
“I would just like to sit him down like this and just say, ‘Why didn’t you come to me?” said the mother of two teenagers.
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“Because he’s missed out on just so much joy, and we would have been okay. And I think that’s what the hardest thing is, we would have been okay.”
William, whose mother Princess Diana died in a car accident in Paris in 1997 when he was 15 years old, looked up and put his hand over his mouth.
“Are you okay?” Mannings asked him.
William reached out to touch her hand and told her: “I’m sorry. I just, it’s hard to ask you the questions.”
Mannings, who set up the charity 2wish to support families affected by the sudden death of a child, told him: “No it’s fine. It’s just you’ve got children. It’s hard and you’ve experienced loss yourself.”
William first met Mannings in 2017 as part of a mental health campaign that he started with his wife Kate Middleton and now-estranged younger brother, Prince Harry.
Friday’s footage, released by Kensington Palace, coincided with the launch of a new national suicide prevention network, spearheaded by William and Kate’s philanthropic foundation.
“The best way to prevent suicide is to talk about it. Talk about it early. Talk about it with your loved ones, those you trust, your friends. So thank you for talking about it,” William said to Mannings.
If you or someone you know needs help, please contact the 24-hour National Suicide Prevention Hotline by calling or texting 988 for free and confidential support. You can also text “HOME” to 741741 anytime for the Crisis Text Line and access to live, trained crisis counselors.
