Prince William visibly emotional listening to widow talk about husband’s suicide

Prince William appeared to hold back tears as he listened to a mum talk of losing her husband to suicide, days after the death of their young son.

The royal was filmed speaking to campaigner Rhian Mannings, 48, at her family home near Cardiff.

The footage was released today, on World Mental Health Day, to mark the launch of a new National Suicide Prevention Network, spearheaded by the Prince and Princess of Wales’s Royal Foundation.

Rhian’s youngest son George was just one when he died in 2012 after suffering a seizure. Five days later her husband Paul took his own life.

As a result she went on to launch the charity 2wish to support families affected by the sudden death of a child.

In the film, William and Rhian sit around the kitchen table and talk about the devastating impact of suicide.

At one point he says: ‘From the families I’ve spoken to who’ve had to endure suicide, it’s a lot of unanswered questions that live with you forever, really, don’t they?’

Rhian, who has two older children, Holly, 17 and Isaac, 16, replies: ‘I will forever go over those last few days with him wondering what I missed. Before we lost George, we were just so happy. And I think this just shows that it really can happen to anyone.’

The prince asks: ‘If you could say something or wanted to say something to Paul, what would you have said?’

Rhian replies: ‘There’s only one thing I would ever say to him if I had time with him and that would be “Why didn’t you speak to me?”

‘I think, I ask myself that every single day. He was absolutely devastated. He did keep blaming himself that weekend.

‘But I would just like to sit him down like this and just say “Why didn’t you come to me?’

‘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.’

As he listens to her answer, William looks emotional prompting Rhian to ask if he’s okay.

In response he reaches out to touch her hand and tells her, ‘I’m sorry. I just, it’s hard to ask you the questions’, with Rhian telling him: ‘No it’s fine. It’s just you’ve got children. It’s hard and you’ve experienced loss yourself.’

William, whose mother Diana, Princess of Wales died when he was 15, replies: ‘It’s okay’.

Rhian tells him: ‘Life can throw you these awful curveballs – but by talking about it, by having hope, you can continue.’

William, who has longed campaigned for mental health awareness, highlighted the importance of speaking about suicide, saying: ‘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.’

Rhian had earlier spoken about how her two older children had thrived despite the tragedies they dealt with at a young age, with Isaac playing rugby in the same position as his late father.

William asked how they managed to flourish in such difficult circumstances.

She replied: ‘I look back and I still don’t really know how we survived it. People ask me that a lot, like ‘How do you do it?’ And I don’t really know,” she said.

‘They were so young. The memories they’ve got now are memories that probably I’ve placed into their minds. I still worry a lot about what tomorrow is going to bring our family.

‘But when I’m trying to be rational and trying to think positively, I just want my children to be happy.’

When the prince asked what her advice was on how to speak to children about it, Rhian said: ‘I think it’s important never to lie. There’s ways in being truthful and just being gentle. As a parent, you know your children better than anybody else.’

The National Suicide Prevention Network is aimed at transforming suicide prevention in the UK, and will be boosted by a £1 million investment from William and Kate’s philanthropic foundation.

The other charities joining the initiative as founding partners are James’ Place, PIPS Suicide Prevention Ireland, Mikeysline and the Jac Lewis Foundation, along with Hub of Hope, the UK’s largest mental health support directory.

The prince met Rhian in 2017 for the BBC One documentary Mind Over Marathon which followed a group running for William, Kate and Harry’s Heads Together Mental Health campaign.

At the time, she asked William for advice on how to comfort her two bereaved children, with the royal telling her he still felt the ‘shock’ of his mother’s death many years on.

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