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William reveals how the life-long trauma of Princess Di’s death cast a dark shadow over fatherhood

Princess Diana with sons Harry and William at their country home Highgrove House in 1986

Princess Diana with sons Harry and William at their country home Highgrove House in 1986 Photo: Getty

Prince William has revealed how the “life-changing” experience of having children brought back the emotions he felt following the death of his mother.

Speaking candidly in a new BBC documentary, William says that if you live through a “traumatic” event, like losing a parent at a young age, those feelings can resurface during the amazing but scary period of parenthood.

William, who has three children – George, Charlotte and Louis – admitted he had found things “overwhelming” at times but he and wife Kate supported each other as they went through those “moments” together.

William’s comments will feature in a documentary that examines men’s mental health through the prism of football, and during a discussion with former professional footballer Marvin Sordell, the ex-striker who said he struggled when he became a father for the first time a few years ago.

The former Bolton Wanderers player asked William, with fathers under so much “pressure” who he went to when he was “struggling”, and William replied: “Having children is the biggest life-changing moment, it really is.

Prince Louis

William thanks Kate for easing the psychological trauma that erupted when he had children of his own. Photo: Instagram

“And I agree with you, I think when you’ve been through something traumatic in life – and that is like you say your dad not being around, my mother dying when I was younger – your emotions come back in leaps and bounds because it’s a very different phase of life.

“And there’s no one there to, kind of, help you, and I definitely found it very, at times, overwhelming.

“Me and Catherine particularly, we support each other and we go through those moments together and we kind of evolve and learn together.”

William was 15 and his brother Harry just 12 when their mother, Diana, Princess of Wales was killed in a Paris car crash in 1997.

Football, Prince William And Our Mental Health will be broadcast in the UK on Thursday on the BBC.

-AAP

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