Former air ambulance pilot Prince William spoke candidly on Tuesday about absorbing the pain and suffering he witnessed on the job.
Among all the glamour and luxury that seems to accompany a member of the British royal family, Prince William reminds us that he too is human.
On Tuesday, the Duke of Cambridge spoke at an event in Bristol for the launch of a website to improve mental health in the workplace after he was “stunned” to hear that only 2 per cent of employees in Britain feel able to talk to their HR departments about their mental state.
The 36-year-olds Prince Willaim spent two years as an East Anglian Air Ambulance pilot and admitted that it was a constant struggle dealing with the emotions he unknowingly let impact his personal life.
Speaking about his time in the emergency services, he said, “You’re always dealing with despair and sadness and injury. The attrition builds up and you never really have the opportunity to offload anything if you’re not careful.”
“I took a lot home without realizing it,” he said at the event. “You see [so] many sad things every day that you think life is like that.”
“The attrition builds up and you never really have the opportunity to offload anything if you’re not careful,” Prince William reflected, adding that people struggling with their mental health are “suffering in silence” due to the lack of resources available.
“You’re human and a lot of people forget the battles, you have shut it off to do the job, but ultimately something pierces the armor,” he noted.
Prince William, his wife Kate Middleton and Prince Harry first shined a light on mental health advocacy when they launched Heads Together back in 2016.
