Prince William became emotional during a conversation with a woman who lost her baby and husband just days apart.
Fighting back tears, the royal family met Ryan Munnings and recalled how her husband Paul Munnings died by suicide in 2012. It was just five days after her one-year-old son, George, died of pneumonia.
In a video posted on Friday to mark World Mental Health Day, William asked Leanne what she wished she had told her husband before he died.
“Why didn’t you talk to me? … Why didn’t you come to me?” replied the mother of three, who also shares her first child Holly (17) and second son Isaac (16) with Paul.
Leanne recalled Paul being “absolutely devastated” and “kept blaming himself” for what had happened to his youngest son.
“He missed out on a lot of joy, but we would have been OK. And I think that’s the hardest thing – we would have been OK,” William said. William’s eyes filled with tears as he turned away to collect himself.
“I’m sorry, but it’s hard to ask,” he explained as he tried to grab Leanne’s hand, but as she reminded him, “You’ve experienced loss yourself.” (William’s mother, Princess Diana, died in a car crash in 1997 when he was 15.)
“Sometimes life throws us some really bad curveballs, but talking about it and having hope keeps us going,” Leanne said.
The Prince agreed, arguing that “the best way to prevent suicide is to talk about it.”
“There’s still a lot of stigma around suicide,” he said, adding that Leanne “never had any feelings of suicide” until her husband’s death.
“It was something that happened on the news. No one talked about it or said what happened. At the time, I felt it was really confusing,” she shared.
William, 43, asked Leanne if she had any advice on how to proceed with conversations with family members.
“I think it’s important to never lie. There are ways to be honest and just be kind. As a parent, you know your child better than anyone,” she replied, confessing that she still has many unanswered questions.
“I will forever remember what I missed these past few days with him,” she lamented. “Before we lost George, we were very happy. I think this shows that it can happen to anyone.”
Despite life’s “ups and downs,” Leanne marveled at how her children were “growing up.”
When I asked William, who has three children, how she was able to “raise them so well,” her eyes lit up.
“They have grown into wonderful children and young men,” she exclaimed.
“Looking back, I still don’t quite understand how we survived this time. People ask me that a lot. ‘How did you do it?’ And I really don’t know. They were so young. The memories they have now are probably the memories I planted in their minds.”
Leanne admitted she still worries about “what tomorrow will bring” but added that she tries to “remain rational and think positive” and added: “I just want my kids to be happy.”
At the end of the video, a message flashed across the screen: “The Royal Foundation is uniting four homegrown charities to transform suicide prevention in the UK through a new National Suicide Prevention Network.”
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this article, call or text the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.
