Prince William has revealed the emotional impact the life and death moments he witnessed had on him when he was an air ambulance pilot.
The Duke of Cambridge served as a pilot for the East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) between 2015 and 2017.
Speaking on the Apple Fitness+ Time To Walk podcast, the prince discussed experiencing the traumatic events during work and how he shared his feelings with his team.
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He said: “Talking about those jobs definitely helped, sharing them with the team, and ultimately, in one case, meeting the family and the patient involved who made recovery, albeit not a full recovery, but made a recovery - that definitely helped.”
The Prince revealed thinking about the incident still makes him “quite emotional”.
“I think, as a human being, when you see someone in such dire circumstances, basically at death’s door, you can’t help but not be affected by that.”
The Duke of Cambridge also shared memories of his mum, Diana, including her song of choice for their morning trips to school as well as her charity work.
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He said his mum would sing Tina Turner’s classic anthem The Best at the “top of her voice” with William and his brother, Harry on the school run to help ease Prince William’s anxiety.
"You'd be singing and listening to music right the way up to the gates of school when they dropped you off and that's when reality kind of sunk in - you really were going back to school,” he said.
"Because before that you're lost in songs - want to play it again, just to keep that family moment going. And when I listen to it now it takes me back to those car rides and brings back lots of memories of my mother."
The prince discussed private visits to a homeless shelter with his mum to teach him about the life that happens “outside palace walls.”
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These visits inspired Prince William to become a patron of the homeless charity Centrepoint and discussed attending a charity event with Jon Bon Jovi and Taylor Swift among other celebrity guests. He is also a patron of The Passage, another homeless charity.
Time to Walk episodes are available in the Workout app on Apple Watch with a Fitness+ subscription.
Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: Royal Family, News