It was a Royal tradition meticulously followed for decades – members of the Firm should always maintain a ‘stiff upper lip’ and avoid any public displays of emotion.

Yet Prince William, who tragically lost his beloved mother, Princess Diana, at just 15 years old, has made a conscious decision to break away from this archaic mould.

His intentional embrace of emotion has now been showcased by new, heartbreaking footage of the future King brought to tears as he spoke to a grieving mother whose husband took his own life just days after their one-year-old son died.

In a deeply moving conversation to mark World Mental Health Day, the Prince of Wales’s voice broke and he squeezes his eyes shut as Rhian Mannings told him how she desperately wished her late husband, Paul, had spoken to her about how he was feeling.

‘I think that’s what the hardest thing is… we would have been OK,’ she said.

But William’s dismissal of the Royal stoicism is not a unique phenomenon. Rather, it holds an incredible likeness with his late mother’s compassion and has also been embraced by several other Royals during their most vulnerable moments.

Commonly referred to as the ‘People’s Princess’, Diana became adored globally for her incredible ability to connect with individuals and her heartwarming empathy.

When the Princess of Wales visited Ashworth Hospice in Liverpool in 1992, she became overwhelmed with emotion, with powerful images showing her fighting back tears as she left the building.