William: How bad eyes helped me conquer my anxiety over speeches
PRINCE William has revealed his failing eyesight helped him overcome public speaking nerves.
The Duke of Cambridge speaks about his own battles tonight in BBC documentary Football, Prince William And Our Mental Health.
Asked if he suffered anxiety William, 37, says: “There is no doubt about it. Certain days and especially certain speeches when I was growing up.
“You definitely got a bit of anxiety thinking, ‘This has got to go right, I can’t mess this up’ and there were a lot of people watching.
“Weirdly the thing that helped me which I didn’t realise at the time was my eyesight started to tail off as I got older and I didn’t wear contact lenses when I was working.
“When I gave speeches I couldn’t see anyone’s face. It helps – there was just a blur of faces.
“I could see enough to read the paper but I couldn’t see the whole room so that helped my anxiety.
“Looking back that was what helped, I couldn’t see everyone’s eyes. So I didn’t feel the weight of the whole room was watching me.”
Worrying
William also talks about home schooling his children... and admits he is struggling with some subjects.
He says: “You start worrying about how little you know from your school days when you can’t do the maths questions at home. The challenges of lockdown, eh.”
The Prince vows to champion mental health campaigns until UK male suicides are reduced.
He speaks to footballers including ex-Premier League star Marvin Sordell, who attempted suicide.
William says: “Men seem to have a real issue with opening up and being able to talk about it.
“I don’t expect to fix it in one campaign, two campaigns, even maybe 10 campaigns. But ultimately it is about extending that conversation and telling people it is OK to talk about it.” He says of the lockdown: “We are all going to struggle in dealing with the anxiety, the isolation, the unprecedented uncertainty, job losses. That does worry me a lot and we have to be mindful of looking after all of society going forwards.”
● Football, Prince William And Our Mental Health is on BBC One today at 8.05pm.
William enjoys tucking into Nando’s meal