A widow who lost both her husband and baby son within days of each other has praised Prince William for becoming emotional during a candid conversation on the devastating impact of suicide.
The Prince of Wales met with campaigner Rhian Mannings for a moving film, where they discussed the death of her one-year-old son George died from a seizure in 2012, and the death of her husband Paul by suicide five days later.
During their conversation, the prince became visibly emotional, bringing his hand to his mouth and telling her it was “hard” to ask her such questions about her loss.
Speaking to the Daily Mail in the wake of the film’s release, Ms Mannings said: “It was a really important moment because I think when it gets to the stage of a conversation when it gets emotional, a lot of people will shut down and stop. People are afraid of upsetting people and are afraid to have conversations that cause distress to other people.'
“But actually it is just so important so I was talking about it, he got emotional, which made me emotional, but we continued to talk about it. And I think by him being emotional, people will see it's OK to talk about it, it's OK to find it difficult - but that's not a reason to shy away from it.”
After the release of the emotional film, Ms Mannings described the stigma that still surrounds suicide and revealed how she was shunned by friends and neighbours, so concerned were they about saying the “wrong” thing.
The footage marked the launch of a new National Suicide Prevention Network, spearheaded by the Prince and Princess of Wales’s Royal Foundation, on World Mental Health Day on Friday.
In a frank discussion between the pair around the kitchen table, the prince said to Ms Mannings, who set up the charity 2wish to support families affected by the sudden death of child: “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?”
She replied: “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 asked: “If you could say something or wanted to say something to Paul, what would you have said?”
Ms Mannings, 48, who has two older children – Holly, 17, and Isaac, 16, said: “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 listened to her answer, William looked up and became emotional, and brought his hand to his mouth, as Ms Mannings asked him: “Are you okay?”
He reached out to touch her hand and told her “I’m sorry. I just, it’s hard to ask you the questions”, with the campaigner 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, replied: “It’s okay”, before breathing out deeply.
The National Suicide Prevention Network is aimed at transforming suicide prevention in the UK across the four home nations, and will be boosted by a £1 million investment from William and Kate’s philanthropic foundation.
If you need to speak to someone, the National Suicide Prevention hotline is 0800 587 0800. Samaritans are also available 24/7 on 116 123 or by emailing jo@samaritans.org
