Widow's moving interview with Prince William 'a whirlwind'

A widow who had tea with the Prince of Wales at her home in Cardiff to discuss her husband's suicide called it a "whirlwind experience".

In an emotional conversation, Rhian Mannings told Prince William how her husband, Paul, died by suicide just five days after they lost their one-year-old son, George in 2012.

She later founded a bereavement charity - which has now been supported by a £1m donation from Prince William's Royal Foundation to create a UK suicide prevention network.

Ms Mannings said it was "really special" and "meant the world" to welcome the future King into the family home she once shared with Paul and George.

Rhian Mannings invited Prince William to her home in Cardiff to discuss her husband's suicide

In a conversation filmed by Kensington Palace for World Mental Health Day, the prince asked Ms Mannings about how she had coped, how she continued raising two children, whether she had faced stigma around suicide at the time and what she would say to her husband now.

At one point, Prince William was visibly moved and appeared too emotional to speak.

He spoke of his commitment to "building a bold, unified national response to the heartbreaking and preventable tragedy of suicide".

Ms Mannings first received an email from Kensington Palace inviting her to Windsor Castle to discuss suicide - which she said was "surreal in the first place".

But soon after, another message came through: Prince William wanted to visit her at home.

"To be honest, I just laughed," she said.

"I was giggling, thinking, this can't be serious. I thought they meant Cardiff - not my actual house."

When it was confirmed, Ms Mannings felt a mix of emotions, "amazing, nerve-wracking, exciting".

She added: "It's a difficult subject that we were going to talk about as well, so obviously it was going to be emotive.

"For him to come into my home, where I lived with Paul and George - there's something really special about that. It felt like he was stepping into my life."

Despite being unsure how the act with the future King, she says the atmosphere was "incredibly relaxed", with "a lot of hugs"

Ms Mannings said she had met Prince William a few times before and had spoken about "emotional things" so she knew the conversation "wasn't going to be easy".

"Talking about suicide and loss never is - but I was surprised by how hard he found it."

"Seeing him upset at my kitchen table was tough.

"Normally, you'd give someone a big cwtch, but he's the future king - I wasn't sure what I could do."

Despite the emotion, she said the atmosphere was "incredibly relaxed", with "lots of hugs" and hand-holding throughout.

"It was lovely to see how much it mattered to him - not just hearing our story, but looking at how we stop this happening to other families.

"He is obviously very passionate about that, and that came across in bucketloads."

Prince William stayed for over an hour and "never looked at his watch" and even chatted with her as he got into the car, Ms Mannings said.

Her children, Holly, 17, and Isaac, 16, were surprised by how "normal" he was.

Ms Mannings explained how they said: "That was weird - he's just so normal.

"He spoke to them like someone we knew. He makes it very easy to forget who he is.

"It was a very special day."

Ms Mannings also shared how her mum, Chris Jones, 78, wanted to make the prince a Victoria sponge and some Welsh cakes.

But with the conversation running long, they didn't get round to it - so as he left, they offered to send them home for George, Charlotte and Louis.

He accepted - and left with the cakes packed in one of Ms Jones' tupperware boxes.

Ms Mannings' husband, Paul, died by suicide just five days after the death of their one-year-old son, George

After her own loss, Ms Mannings founded a charity, 2wish, to help those affected by the sudden or unexpected death of a child or young person.

That charity will be one of 20 organisations that will form part of a new National Suicide Prevention Network, being launched with £1m over three years, from the Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales.

The network will be chaired by Professor Ann John, an expert in the prevention of suicide and consultant in public health medicine in Wales.

It will try to understand more about the causes of suicide, to provide support that can be accessed by anyone, and to encourage more collaboration between different agencies and charities.

Ms Mannings says her children, Holly and Isaac, were surprised by how "normal" the prince was

Ms Mannings said she "never, ever in a million years" expected the overwhelming response to the conversation and that at 2wish, they had been "inundated with families seeking support and wanting to know more".

She explained how her main reason for sharing her story was to show that "it's important to talk about suicide and not be scared of the word" - and that "anything is possible".

"The message really is that people need to talk," she said.

"Whether it's talking about struggles or just your day - reaching out helps, even though it's not always easy."

Ms Mannings reflected on how people often ask "are you OK?" - but it's a vague question, easy to "fob off".

"Sometimes it's better to offer to go for a walk or just spend time with someone who might just need a little bit of company.

"I so wish Paul had spoken to me that weekend. He didn't. And I just know that if we had just sat down and talked, things would have been OK.

"It'd have been a different OK, but it would have been OK."