Duke of Cambridge reveals emotional toll of air ambulance flights on London visit with Duchess

Visit: The Duke and Duchess arriving at the YoungMinds charity
Luca Teuchmann/Getty Images
Robert Jobson25 August 2016

Prince William today revealed how his job as an air ambulance pilot has taken its toll on him.

In a visit to a charity which helps the parents of children suffering from mental problems, the Duke of Cambridge said he had heard from “too many sad families”.

William added he should be excused from hearing any distressing stories otherwise he would be “in floods of tears”.

He also confessed that the exam season still has the power to remind him of the anxieties he felt as he waited for his own GCSE results 18 years ago.

“It still gives me the heebie-jeebies,” he said.

Duke: William warned he could be left in 'floods of tears'
Nick Ansell/PA Wire

His comments came during a visit by the Duke and Duchess to the helpline for parents run in London by the charity YoungMinds, part of the couple’s Heads Together campaign.

As the couple prepared to listen in to live calls from adults concerned about children’s mental welfare, William said: “Can I have an easy one please? I’m carrying a lot of things at the moment. I will be in floods of tears at the end otherwise.

“I’ve had too many sad families with the Air Ambulance. I can’t deal with any more stuff. Just maybe at the lower level, if I can.”

He added: “I’m steeling myself the best I can.”

Duke: William said the visit was 'very eye-opening'
Luca Teuchmann/Getty Images

William has been a part-time helicopter pilot with the East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) since July 2015, having previously served with RAF search and rescue.

He donates his salary in full to charity.

Although the remarks were made in a jocular fashion, they confirmed that the Duke has a more sensitive nature than is sometimes supposed.

Yesterday he had an emotional conversation at a hospice in Luton with a teenage boy who had lost his mother. William did his best to comfort the boy, and told him how he still misses his own mother every day.

The Duchess listens in to real calls during a visit to YoungMinds
Arthur Edwards/The Sun/PA Wire

The YoungMinds visit began with a meeting with the volunteers who man the helplines.

One, Saida Tahir, told him it was a busy time for self-harm because many teenagers were affected by their exam results.

Recalling his own exam worries, William said: “It still gives me the heebie-jeebies. I still get sweaty thinking about it.”

Afterwards, William said: “I found it very eye-opening. I thought the service was fantastic.

"I think the idea that you’ve got these very caring, lovely people on the end of the phone who listen for as long as they need to, to build the picture of what is going on, and then provide extremely good advice - and then the fact that you’ve got the mental health professionals later down the line if necessary.

“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.”

The Duchess told chief executive Sarah Brennan: “William and I found it absolutely fascinating, from hearing the case study and also taking the calls.”

Kate added: “What we’ve taken away is just how normal it is. We are parents ourselves, I am sure we will face worries - we do face worries, because we’ve got small young children. If those worries escalate, how vital it is to get support - and you are providing that support.”

“As a parent and as a mother, having that feeling that there is somebody there that is non-judgemental, that can provide the professional support, and that can really provide helping hand at a really difficult time,” she said.

William said: “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."

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