Prince William Still Longs For Princess Diana ‘Every Day’ – How He Deals With Grief
Nearly 20 years after Princess Diana’s death, Prince William still yearns for her. During a visit to England’s Keech Hospice, the 34-year-old opened up about his mother’s death to 14-year-old Ben Hines, who also lost his mother to cancer just this year.
According to Express, the father-of-two advised Hines on how he could cope up with sadness.
“I know how you feel. I still miss my mother every day–and it’s 20 years after she died. The important thing is to talk about it as a family. It’s okay to feel sad, it’s okay for you to miss her.”
The boy promised Prince William that he would rely on his father and two brothers for emotional strength. The royal recommended one thing that he did to deal with grief. He said that while boys are normally “not good sharers,” talking would do wonders for such a trying time.
The BBC reports that Gary Hines appreciated Prince William and wife Catherine’s effort to comfort his son. He described the couple as “incredibly caring.”
The couple likewise visited Young Mind, a charity providing care to young people dealing with mental health problems. One of the charity’s projects is a hotline for parents who are worried about their children’s mental state.
The Duke of Cambridge, however, subtly asked not to hear sorrowful stories because he’s frightened that he would be in tears. He talked about how his work with the East Anglian Air Ambulance also exposed him to life’s saddening realities.
Nonetheless, he praised the group’s selfless service and called it “fantastic.”
“I think that is a really good balance of getting the right support straight to these families who are clearly at their wits’ end at what to do, and reaching out. Thank goodness they do reach out to something like this. I think it is fantastic.”
He emphasized that nothing’s wrong with stepping out to ask for help because not everyone could be superheroes.
“It is important that parents understand that you can’t be brilliant at everything. It is totally fine to talk about it and to seek help and to speak out, because we’re not all superheroes. There is a lot of pressure on parents, and most of it is self-made by parents themselves, where you feel you have to be able to handle everything. You have to show strength and resilience to everything. But there are some times when it all gets too much and you need to reach out, and that’s totally fine.”
Earlier this year, Prince Harry also talked to People magazine about losing his mother, the “People’s Princess.”
“When she died, there was a gaping hole, not just for us but also for a huge amount of people across the world. If I can try and fill a very small part of that, then job done. I will have to, in a good way, spend the rest of my life trying to fill that void as much as possible. And so will William.”
He revealed that all he ever wanted to do was to make his mother “incredibly proud.” A car accident took away the life of Princess Diana in August 1997. William was 15, and Harry was 12 at the time of her death.
August 31 marks the 19th anniversary of Princess Diana’s death, but the two princes are already making plans for next year’s anniversary. The two are reportedly collaborating with Historic Royal Palaces to put up a memorial garden on the Kensington Palace grounds. It is believed that the garden will open next year during the spring season.
The two are also supporting various charities across the globe that echo the causes their late mother believed in.
Prince William, Kate Middleton, and Prince Harry are taking various steps to raise awareness for mental welfare. They have partnered with several non-profit organizations in an aspiration to change how the society perceives mental health problems.
[Photo by Jeff Spicer – WPA Pool/Getty Images]
