Prince William: 'Stiff upper lip can harm your health'

Prince William wants Brits to lose the "stiff upper lip", saying it can lead to mental health issues.

Speaking to mental health campaign Calm, the Duke of Cambridge said he wants his children Prince George and Princess Charlotte to grow up being able to talk about their emotions.

"There may be a time and a place for the 'stiff upper lip', but not at the expense of your health," he said.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

During the interview with CALMzine, Prince said he had been "amazed" to hear children talking openly about "difficult subjects" when visiting schools with his wife Kate Middleton.

He said: "Seeing this has really given me hope things are changing and there is a generation coming up who find it normal to talk openly about emotions."

These were the life skills he hoped to instil in his own children, he said: "Catherine and I are clear we want both George and Charlotte to grow up feeling able to talk about their emotions and feelings."

William also praised grime musician Stormzy for speaking about his depression, saying his interview was "incredibly powerful" and would help young men "feel that it's a sign of strength to talk about and look after your mind as well as your body".

During his time working as an air ambulance pilot, the Prince has repeatedly been called out to attempted suicides, something he said made him think about mental health.

He said: "Sometimes, emotions have to be put to one side to get the job done, but if you have been through an especially traumatic or stressful situation it is essential to talk it through after the event.

"If you don't acknowledge how you feel it will only bottle up and could reassert itself later as illness."

Prince William spoke out a day after his younger brother Prince Harry revealed he had sought counselling after 20 years of "not thinking" about the death of their mother Diana, Princess of Wales.

Harry was 12 when his mother was killed in Paris but, he told The Daily Telegraph, he did not process his grief until much later in life.

It was only when he was "on the verge of punching someone" in his late twenties that he realised he had bottled up his own emotions.

After encouragement from his elder brother William, he worked with a "shrink" to understand his feelings, he said.