William visibly moved as widow tells of husband's suicide

October 10, 2025

William visibly moved as widow tells of husband's suicide

The Prince of Wales was visibly moved as he heard first hand about the devastating impact of suicide, having to pause during a conversation with Rhian Mannings, whose husband took his own life.

Rhian has since set up a bereavement charity - and Prince William's Royal Foundation is contributing £1m to develop a National Suicide Prevention Network.

The network, which will operate across the UK, will work to understand more about the root causes of suicide and to offer support for those affected.

Prince William, on World Mental Health Day, said he wanted to "build a bold, unified national response to the heartbreaking and preventable tragedy of suicide".

In an emotional conversation, captured on camera, Rhian Mannings told the prince that her husband had taken his own life, five days after the couple had faced the death of their one-year-old son.

The prince asked her how she had coped and continued to bring up two children.

"I look back and I still don't know how we survived it," said Rhian.

"Unfortunately There's still a lot of stigma around suicide, did you feel that at the time?" asked Prince William.