Prince William says it’s taken him almost two decades to be able to speak publicly about losing his mum, Princess Diana, when he was 15 years old.
In a candid new interview with British GQ, the royal has opened up about experiencing grief on a world stage, as the 20-year anniversary of Princess Diana’s death approaches this August.
“I am in a better place about it than I have been for a long time, where I can talk about her more openly, talk about her more honestly, and I can remember her better, and publicly talk about her better,” he said.
“It has taken me almost 20 years to get to that stage. I still find it difficult now because at the time it was so raw. And also it is not like most people’s grief, because everyone else knows about it, everyone knows the story, everyone knows her.
“It is a different situation for most people who lose someone they love, it can be hidden away or they can choose if they want to share their story.”
Opening up about Diana, he said:
“I would like to have had her advice. I would love her to have met Catherine and to have seen the children grow up. It makes me sad that she won’t, that they will never know her.”
Both he and Prince Harry have recently begun to speak about their loss, after staying silent on the subject for the better part of two decades. They, along with the Duchess of Cambridge, spearhead the Heads Together campaign, an initiative that works to end the stigma around mental health and change the national conversation.
“Smashing the taboo is our biggest aim,” he told GQ. “We cannot go anywhere much until that is done. People can’t access services till they feel less ashamed, so we must tackle the taboo, the stigma, for goodness sake, this is the 21st century.
“I’ve been really shocked how many people live in fear and in silence because of their mental illness. I just don’t understand it. I know I come across as quite reserved and shy, I don’t always have my emotions brewing, but behind closed doors I think about the issues, I get very passionate about things. I rely on people around me for opinions, and I am a great believer in communication on these issues.
“I cannot understand how families, even behind closed doors, still find it so hard to talk about it. I am shocked we are so worried about saying anything about the true feelings we have. Because mental illness is inside our heads, invisible, it means others tread so carefully, and people don’t know what to say, whereas if you have a broken leg in plaster, everyone knows what to say.”
It comes after Prince Harry opened up earlier this year about his own experiences of grief, appearing as the first guest on The Telegraph‘s ‘Mad World‘ podcast about mental health.
“My way of dealing with it was sticking my head in the sand, refusing to ever think about my mum,” he said. “So from an emotional side I was like, don’t let your emotions be part of everything.”
“I had a few conversations and then all of a sudden all this grief came to the surface. It was 20 years of not thinking about it, and two years of total chaos.”
The full interview with Prince William will be available in the July 2017 issue of GQ, available June 1.
Photo: Richard Stonehouse / Getty.
