Prince William Says You Have to 'Learn to Love and Understand Yourself' as He Discusses His Own Mental Health 'Tools'
Prince William Says You Have to 'Learn to Love and Understand Yourself' as He Discusses His Own Mental Health 'Tools'
Simon PerryWed, February 18, 2026 at 10:45 AM UTC
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Prince William appearing on BBC Radio 1's Life Hacks on Feb. 18.2026
Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace
During a surprise appearance on BBC Radio 1 on Wednesday, Feb 18, Prince William discussed his own mental health challenges and the "tools" he uses to deal with them
During a discussion about male suicide, William said that there needs to be more male "role models" who are willing to "normalize" discussing their mental health
The prince also urged listeners to "learn to love yourself and understand yourself"
Prince William has spoken about the toolkit he builds to help tackle mental health challenges in his life, as he urged people to “learn to love yourself and understand yourself.”
The Prince of Wales, 43, surprised listeners of a BBC radio breakfast show early on Feb. 18, when he joined a panel discussion on male suicide.
He told the BBC Radio 1 host Greg James and a panel including British rapper Professor Green that there needs to be more male role models who are open to addressing the issue publicly, aiding those in crisis to do the same.
“Learn to love yourself and understand yourself,” William said. “I take a long time trying to understand my emotions and why I feel like I do, and I feel like that’s a really important process to do every now and again. To check in with yourself and work out why you’re feeling like you do."
Prince William in the BBC Radio 1 studio for the show broadcast on Feb. 18, 2026
Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace
“Sometimes there is an obvious explanation, sometimes there isn’t. I think that idea that a mental health crisis is temporary — you can have a strong mental health crisis moment, but it will pass.”
He continued, "Part of feeling comfortable talking about mental health is understanding it. And if you've got guys who have really gone about trying to really learn about what feelings are, why we feel like we do, what can we do about it? That's part of the conversation, too."
He went on to address the importance of "male role models" willing to discuss their own mental health.
"We need more male role models out there, kind of talking about it and normalizing it so that it becomes something that is second nature to all of us," he said.
Prince William and Princess Kate talking to runners representing their Heads Together mental health campaign at the London Marathon in April 2017
LUKE MACGREGOR/POOL/AFP via Getty
William has made it a central part of his mission to tackle suicide, particularly in men. When he was an air ambulance pilot, he saw the devastating effects on families after attending to tragedies in his work and he has spoken about how one of his first calls in his job at East Anglia’s air ambulance service was to a young man who had died by suicide.
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The prince is also patron of James’ Place, which is one of a number of organizations he said on Feb. 18 that can be the “stepping stone” that helps “the idea of suicide" to be "pushed further and further away.” He spent last year’s World Suicide Prevention Day in Cardiff, Wales, supporting families at a mental wellbeing hub and charity.
Talking on Radio 1 on Feb. 18 about how he copes with some of the mental health difficulties he faces, William said he uses a toolkit.
“When we're born, and when we grow up, and through life, you're sort of, depending on circumstance, family, upbringing, whatever it might be, you have a certain toolbox next to you, but no one has all the tools in it,” William said.
“Not one person in this world has all the tools for every eventuality your mental state's going to come across. And I like to go around looking for new tools to put in my toolbox when I might need it. And if we look at it like that, it does normalize the idea that the brain just needs sometimes a little bit of help, but we can't expect to have all the answers ourselves, and it's okay to ask for support, ask a mate, reach out, and that becomes just the normalization process of what's going on inside your head.”
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Last October, William made a moving film with a woman who lost her husband to suicide. Interviewing Rhian Manningin her home in South Wales, he choked up, as he gently asked her what she might say to her late husband, Paul.
“I would just like to sit him down like this and just say, ‘Why didn’t you come to me?’ Because he’s missed out on just so much joy, and we would have been okay. And I think that’s what’s hardest — we would have been okay.”
Prince William taking part in the panel discussion that aired on Radio 1 on Feb. 18, 2026
Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace
Then, as William absorbed what Rhian said, he rubbed his chin, his eyes glistening. The prince then stretched out his arm across the kitchen table to touch Rhian's hand and said, “I’m sorry. It’s just . . . it’s hard to ask these questions that I . . .”
Rhian then calmly said, “No, it’s fine. It’s just . . . you’ve got children,” before adding, “It’s hard… and you’ve experienced loss yourself.”
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
