Prince William: Having children is 'amazing', 'scary' and made him miss Diana

Prince William with his eldest son, Prince George. Photos / Getty Images

The Duke of Cambridge has spoken of the "life-changing" moment he became a father after the trauma of his young life, saying having children was one of the "scariest" moments he had experienced.

The Duke, whose mother, Diana Princess of Wales, died when he was 15, said the emotions flooded back "in leaps and bounds" after the birth of his first child and that he found it overwhelming as he realised she was not there to help him.

In a conversation about mental health with Marvin Sordell, a former Premier League footballer, the Duke said he and the Duchess had to "learn and evolve" together after the arrival of Prince George, moving into a "very different phase of life".

The pair spoke as part of a new BBC documentary about football and mental health, aimed at encouraging men in particular to open up about their emotions and well-being.

The Duke and Duchess are isolating at Anmer Hall on the Sandringham estate, where they have been undertaking royal engagements via video call, and homeschooling Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

Prince William's three children, George, Charlotte and Louis. Photos / Getty Images

Mr Sordell, a former England under-21 player, talked about his struggle with depression and the pressure he felt after becoming a father in 2017.

"It was the hardest time in my life," he told the Duke. "I grew up without my father... I really struggled with my emotions at that time".

Asked how he had managed the leap into fatherhood, the Duke said he could relate to what Mr Sordell was saying.

"Having children is the biggest life-changing moment. It really is," he said.

"I agree with you.

"I think when you've been through something traumatic in life - and that is, like you say, your dad not being around, my mother dying when I was younger - the emotions come back in leaps and bounds.

"Because it's a very different phase of life and there's no one there to kind of help you. I definitely found it very, at times, overwhelming."

On how he had coped, he added: "Me and Catherine particularly, we support each other and we go through those moments together and we kind of evolve and learn together...

"Emotionally, things come out of the blue that you don't ever expect or that maybe you think you've dealt with.

"I can relate to what you're saying about children coming along. It's one of the most amazing moments of life, but it's also one of the scariest."

Reassuring the footballer he would be a brilliant father, he promised: "Your dad would be very proud of you."

"So would your mum," said Mr Sordell, as the Duke smiled and replied: "I appreciate that."

William has shared he felt overwhelmed when he realised his mother wasn't there to help him after the arrival of his first child. Photos / Getty Images

The conversation forms part of a documentary, filmed by the BBC over the course of a year.

In it, a spokesman said, the Duke "meets men from all walks of life, from players, fans and managers from grassroots to the elite as part of his efforts to start the biggest-ever conversation on mental health, through football".

Mr Sordell spoke of a suicide attempt in 2013, saying he had been in a "really bad place" but that the attitude in football at the time meant "we don't look at these things and tackle them and try to solve them, we think we just wanna put that away, and leave it".

He retired last year, aged 28. He has a wife and two small children, and now owns a media production company.

The Duke has previously spoken about how he ensures his mother is still included in family life, regularly telling his children about "Granny Diana".

William revealed he and wife Catherine had to "learn and evolve" as they navigated parenthood. Photos / Getty Images

Asked in a 2017 documentary about what she would have been like as a grandmother, he joked: "She'd love the children to bits, but she'd be an absolute nightmare. She'd come and go and she'd come in probably at bath time, cause an amazing amount of scene, bubbles everywhere, bathwater all over the place and then leave."

The new documentary was supposed to be a highlight of months of work for the Duke, with a series of engagements, pencilled in for this year, focusing on mental health and football.

The Heads Up campaign, which was supposed to last for the 2019-20 season, launched at the FA Community Shield and was intended to culminate yesterday at the FA Cup Final.

Working with the charities Mind, Calm, Sporting Chance and Heads Together, it saw grassroots clubs to professional footballers try to "break the stigma" around admitting to mental health difficulties.The Duke has swapped royal visits and face-to-face meetings at Kensington Palace for working from home in Norfolk during lockdown.