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Prince William speaks out about stress of being air ambulance pilot

“I took a lot home without realizing it,” The Duke of Cambridge said while speaking as part of Workplace Mental Health Week

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Prince William opened up about the stress he dealt with as an emergency helicopter pilot with the East Anglian Air Ambulance.

Photo/AP

By Martha Ross
East Bay Times

BRISTOL, England — Earlier this week, Prince William opened up about the stress he dealt with as an emergency helicopter pilot with the East Anglian Air Ambulance, flying to accident sites to provide medical attention to sick and injured people in different parts of England.

“I took a lot home without realizing it,” The Duke of Cambridge said while speaking in Bristol as part of Workplace Mental Health Week, according to People.

“You’re always dealing with despair and sadness and injury,” the 36-year-old father of three continued. “The attrition builds up and you never really have the opportunity to offload anything if you’re not careful.”

But hold on. Was the second-in-line to the British throne “emoting” too much — revealing too much about his own human struggles with anxiety, fear, sadness?

Could it get him into trouble with Prince Charles?

Charles reportedly has a problem with his sons’ public declarations of emotional vulnerability, especially when it comes to the 1997 death of their mother Princess Diana. Charles’ discomfort with such testimonials has reportedly helped fuel a “cold war” between him and his sons, according to reports, most recently a Sept. 1 Daily Beast story.

This report outlined the “significant tension” between heir-to-the-throne Charles and his sons. It said the “strained relationship” also stems from Charles being jealous that his sons and their wives, Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle, are more popular than he is, and the brothers’ resentment that their father cheated on their mother with Camilla Parker Bowles.

In a stunning development, the Daily Beast report prompted a rare denial from Clarence House, saying any notion of Charles and his sons not getting along is “pure fiction.”

In any case, if Charles disapproves of so much public sharing, it doesn’t look like William or Harry will slow down anytime soon.

In fact, the brothers have won widespread praise — and probably increased popularity with the British public — by making mental health awareness one of their signature causes as royal family members.

In 2016, William and Harry, along with Kate Middleton, launched the Heads Together campaign to end stigma around mental illness.

“Too often, people feel afraid to admit that they are struggling. Heads Together wants to help people feel more comfortable with their mental wellbeing and support their friends and family,” the three said in a statement.

Last year, Prince Harry was lauded by mental health advocates for revealing in an interview how he nearly suffered a mental breakdown and finally sought professional help after years of grief over the death of his mother.

“To have an advocate such as Prince Harry discussing so openly the impact of the death of his mother on his own mental health will make a huge difference to the way we discuss grief,” wrote professor Sir Simon Wessely, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in a commentary for the Telegraph. “I think that in just 25 minutes he has achieved more good than I have in 25 years. He’s an incredibly powerful role model and has a reach that we can only dream of.”

Maybe Prince William will achieve similar gains with discussions around workplace stress. As it happens, his talk in Bristol was held to launch a new website, Mental Health at Work, CNN reported. The website serves as a portal to a range of resources from organizations across the U.K. to help individuals and companies address workplace mental health.

During his talk, William said he was “stunned” to learn that just 2 percent of people feel comfortable talking to their workplace human resources department about mental health, according to People’s chief foreign correspondent.

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William added, “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.”

Dawn Anderson, a 45-year-old paramedic at the event, told People she appreciated William being willing to discuss these issues. His openness prompted Anderson to share with him how she covered up two episodes related to PTSD, afraid that she’d be seen as unable to do her job.

“He feels like a colleague as well as a leader,” Anderson told People — perhaps offering an assessment about how the prince might one day perform as king.

“He is so calm and approachable,” Anderson continued. “He has a real relaxed presence about him. It has been a positive and wonderful experience.”

Copyright 2018 East Bay Times