Prince William hid his 'burden' from wife Kate while working frontline in early years of their marriage

Prince William recently looked back on the time he spent working the frontline for emergency services, and revealed that he used to hide his emotional "burden" from his new wife Kate Middleton.

The Duke of Cambridge, who worked as an air ambulance helicopter pilot after serving as an RAF Search and Rescue pilot before taking on full-time royal duties in July 2017, shared his experience during a speech at The Royal Foundation's Emergency Services Mental Health Symposium on Thursday. Expressing his solidarity with first responders who face mental health struggles because of the emotionally troubling situations they confront in their work especially since the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic, the Duke said, "I remember the pressure of attending calls in the most stressful conditions, sometimes with tragic conclusions."

"I remember the sense of solidarity with my team, pulling together to do the best we could and sharing the weight of responsibility," the 39-year-old said, adding that the burden can impact one's family life as well.

"I also remember returning home with the stresses and strains of the day weighing on my mind, and wanting to avoid burdening my family with what I had seen," he admitted.

The father-of-three also appeared in a short film he made with two emergency workers as they discussed the difficulties they face in their jobs. He recalled about his time as a frontline worker, "When I was in the air ambulance, any job I went to with children, that really affected me — much more than if I hadn't had children actually."

"So, for me, it was the relation of my personal life with the family or the incident I was at. I found that very difficult. There were a number of times when I had to take myself away because I was just getting too involved in it, and feeling it," he said, adding that talking to someone else after such incidents is really important.

William had previously said in a video he made with Kate earlier this year that the way he sees the world changed after his brief work as an air ambulance pilot because of the death and bereavement he saw during that time.