What happened to the royal stiff upper lip, Wills?
Day after opening up over Diana, prince fears charity visit will leave him in tears
PRINCE William revealed yesterday that his job as an air ambulance pilot is taking a toll on him emotionally because he has seen ‘too many sad families’.
Visiting a helpline for parents worried about children’s mental health, the royal said he would be ‘in floods of tears’ listening to the calls, adding: ‘I’m carrying a lot of things at the moment.’
The future king’s decision to talk openly about his feelings is unusual for the Royal Family. His grandfather Prince Philip is very much of the ‘stiff upper lip’ mentality.
Privately, William has admitted he is much more emotional after becoming a father. But he has shied away from expressing his feelings publicly, until now.
On Wednesday, he comforted a boy who had lost his mother to cancer, saying: ‘I know how you feel. I still miss my mother every day, and it’s 20 years after she died.’ And he urged the grieving boy to talk about his feelings.
Yesterday, William and the Duchess of Cambridge visited Young-Minds, a national charity for young people. It runs a helpline for concerned parents, and the couple were invited to listen to some calls.
The prince said: ‘Can I have an easy one, please? I’m carrying a lot of things at the moment. I will be in floods of tears at the end otherwise. I’ve had too many sad families with the air ambulance. I can’t deal with any more stuff. Just maybe at the lower level, if I can … I’m steeling myself the best I can.’
The visit began with a meeting with the volunteers who man the helpline. One, Saida Tahir, told William it was a busy time for calls about self-harm because many teenagers were affected by their exam results. Recalling his own exam worries, the prince said: ‘It still gives me the heebie-jeebies. I still get sweaty thinking about it.’
Mrs Tahir, 46, a special needs teacher from Hampton, south-west London, started volunteering after a relative was diagnosed with depression and anxiety.
She said: ‘It’s GCSE results day today, A-level results last week, so we were prepared [for] lots of anxiety levels. William was saying the same … He was saying, “How do you keep your own emotions out of it?”’
William and Kate heard tales of parents who had contacted the helpline, including one about a boy who felt suicidal after being mugged at 13. His mother told the charity: ‘ He was so distressed he was determined to end his life … My husband spent weeks sleeping in the hall so our son could not head for the bridge.’
The prince said afterwards: ‘There is a lot of pressure on parents … you feel you have to be able to handle everything … But there are some times when it all gets too much and you need to reach out, and that’s totally fine.’
Kate, in a red LK Bennett dress reduced from £225 to £95 in a sale, said the visit was ‘fascinating’. She told the charity’s Sarah Brennan that she and William ‘do face worries because we’ve got small young children – if those worries escalate, how vital it is to get support, and you are providing that support.’