Prince William chokes up as he discusses impact of suicide

LONDON – 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 on Oct 10 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.

Prince William, 43, became visibly emotional after asking Ms 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.

“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.”

Prince 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?” Ms Mannings asked him.

Prince William reached out to touch her hand and told her: “I’m sorry. I just, it’s hard to ask you the questions.”

Ms 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.”

Prince William first met Ms Mannings in 2017 as part of a mental health campaign that he started with his wife Kate and now-estranged younger brother Prince Harry.

The footage, released by Kensington Palace, coincided with the launch of a new national suicide prevention network, spearheaded by Prince William and Princess 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,” Prince William said to Ms Mannings. AFP