Archbishop of Canterbury thanks Prince William for helping him pull through a battle with depression

London: The Archbishop of Canterbury recently thanked Prince William for helping him pull through his recent battle with depression.

Justin Welby said that the prince ‘encouraged him to seek help’. It came as William took part in the Church’s weekly online service. He has also spoken on mental health for a BBC documentary to be broadcast last week.

The Archbishop told the Sunday Times: “I am deeply grateful to His Royal Highness for speaking publicly about mental health and hope it might encourage others who are suffering alone to seek help and support.

“It encouraged me to seek help when I was struggling, help that was effective.”

Archbishop Welby, who is the son of two alcoholics, and who suffered the loss of his seven-month-old daughter in a car crash, has acknowledged his own struggles with mental health in the past.

Last week, he told the BBC that he had experienced “an overwhelming sense the world is getting more and more difficult and gloomy”. He added: ‘You turn inwards on yourself a lot. You become, frankly, narcissistic.

“And when you have good friends or family who spot it, they can say ‘might it not be an idea to talk to someone.’ Which I did.

“There is nothing pathetic about it. It is no more pathetic than being ill in any other way. And we just need to get over that.”