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The Prince of Wales has opened up about his “most painful experience” on a visit to a bereavement charity close to Princess Diana’s heart.
Prince William, 42, spoke to teenagers in Widnes, Cheshire, on Wednesday to see the work done by Child Bereavement UK, of which he has been a patron since 2009.
The charity, which provides free, confidential bereavement support for children and young people, as well as families where a child has died, was launched in 1994 with support from William’s mother Diana, Princess of Wales.
William – who lost his mother in 1997 when he was just 15 – spoke to young people about how they were dealing with grief.
He asked the group: “Did you find it quite hard at the beginning to talk about how you felt?”
Rebecca, 17, who lost her father, said: “I didn’t really know how I felt because it was very sudden. Child Bereavement UK helped me direct the way I felt about it.”
William said: “Sometimes the hardest thing is finding the words for how you feel.”
He added: “It’s crucial those first few years particularly that you have support like this. It gets you in a practice to know how to help yourself going forward.”
Meika, 15, told the prince she had stopped going to school after her grandmother died.
William said: “The mind gets focused on one thing, doesn’t it? It’s very difficult to be able to do school and normal life.”
Executive manager Sue Randall said: “The prince has been involved since 2009 and he’s been brilliant as patron. He’s done all sorts of things for us and is always very helpful and tries to do as much as he can around our work.
“It gives us a profile by having such an amazing patron and personally he is very in tune with what we do.”
Before leaving, William was shown the charity’s “Before I Die” wall, made up of messages from people detailing what they wanted to achieve before they died.
He laughed at one message which said: “Win the Fortnite cash cup.”
He met staff, volunteers and fundraisers including 16-year-old boxer Clayton, from Carlton in Nottingham, who began fundraising for the charity after his coach Tommy Thompson used the service following his daughter’s death.
When Clayton asked William if he liked boxing, he replied: “No, I don’t mind throwing a few punches around but not at your level. It’s exhausting as well.”
In 2015, William spoke about how important it was for him to become the organisation’s patron to “continue my mother’s commitment to a charity which is very dear to me”.
“What my mother recognised back then and what I understand now is that grief is the most painful experience that any child or parent can endure,” he said, marking the charity’s 21st anniversary.
