Prince William is close to tears in emotional interview for World Mental Health Day

The Prince of Wales came close to tears as he spoke to a family affected by suicide.

On World Mental Health Day, Prince William chatted to Rhian Mannings MBE who lost her husband, Paul, to suicide in 2012.

William sat down in the kitchen of Rhian’s home in Cardiff for the conversation which saw the Prince become emotional.

The two chatted about Rhian’s loss and William asked her what she would say to her husband. When she replied ”I would just like to sit him down like this and say ‘Why didn’t you come to me?’ Because he’s missed out on just so much joy. And we would have been ok. I think that’s the hardest thing, we would have been ok.”, William appeared to blink away tears.

The chat was part of a new film released by the Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales and came as it announced a new National Suicide Prevention Network which will involve 20 different organisations.

The network will receive £1 million of funding from the Royal Foundation over the next three years and it will involve organisations based across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

It will be chaired by Professor Ann John and will bring together groups to try and understand more about the causes of suicide, support organisation to work together and encourage people to seek help by making it more easily available.

Getting help was something that Rhian Mannings and Prince William talked about in their conversation.

Rhian, who has been campaigning to help others since the death of her husband, said that the stigma around suicide remains a major issue and added ”I was quite surprised by it. I’d never been touched by suicide. It was something that happened on the news. No one would talk about it.”

Rhian and Paul Mannings had just lost their one year old son, George, to a previously undiagnosed condition. Rhian said her husband felt he could have done more to save their little boy and he died by suicide five days later. She told Prince William ””Life can throw you these awful curve balls. By talking about it, by having hope, you can continue.”

Following the loss of her son and her husband, Rhian founded 2wish, a charity which helps those affected by the sudden death of a child or young person. She has since been awarded an MBE for her work.

As the new network was announced, Prince William said that ”“The incredible partners who form this network reach those at risk of, or affected by, suicide with their inspirational work. I have had the privilege of meeting all of the founding partners to see firsthand their powerful community-based efforts to offer hope and support to those who need it most. Their efforts reaffirm the urgent mission of the National Suicide Prevention Network: to build a bold, unified national response to the heartbreaking—and preventable – tragedy of suicide.”

There will be four founding partners of the network. They are James’ Place in England. PIPS Suicide Prevention in Northern Ireland, the Jac Lewis Foundation in Wales and Mikeysline in Scotland.

The Hub of Hope, which is the UK’s largest mental health support directory, is also joining as a founding Network partner. Other organisations are coming on board as innovation partners including local charities.

Rhian’s charity, 2wish, is among the innovation partners.