In a documentary to be shown this week, the Duke of Cambridge also hints at how having children brought emotions flooding back in “leaps and bounds” from the death of his mother Princess Diana when he was just 15.

William, who has spent the Covid-19 lockdown with Kate and children George, Charlotte and Louis at their Norfolk retreat Anmer Hall, discusses mental health problems with former Premier League footballer Marvin Sordell.

Once an England under-21 striker, Marvin, now 29, who has played for Watford, Bolton and Burnley, quit football last year after suffering depression.

He tells William his problems started after he became a father in 2017. He says: “It was the hardest time in my life. You know, I found it really tough.

“I grew up without my father. I really struggled with my emotions at the time.”

William, 37, says: “Having children is the biggest life-changing moment, it really is.

“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 in life and there is no one really there to help you.

“I definitely found it at times very overwhelming.”

The prince adds: “Me and Catherine particularly, we support each other and we go through those moments together, and we kind of evolve and learn together.

“I can completely 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.”

William says Marvin’s father would be proud of him. Marvin replies: “As your mum would,” to which the prince says: “I appreciate that.”

In Thursday’s BBC One documentary Football, Prince William And Our Mental Health, Marvin also talks about the darkest time in his life – attempting to kill himself in 2013.

He says: “I was in a really bad place. I got to the point where I thought, ‘I can’t do this any more’.

“I took a load of tablets and went to bed bid: Former under-21 Sordell not expecting to wake up. If I saw me in that situation now, you can tell a mile off there’s a big problem, big, big problem, but it’s football though.

“Literally we don’t look at these things and tackle them and try and solve them, we just think we want to put that away and leave it.”

Father-of-two Marvin, who believes playing football professionally damaged his mental health, is now joint owner of a media production company.

The programme features William, who is the president of the English FA, meeting players, fans and managers from grassroots football to the elite in his efforts to start the biggest-ever conversation on mental health through the game.

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard, 41, tells William he was “stuck in the Stone Age” about mental health while playing and says clubs have a long way to go in dealing with men’s emotional wellbeing.

The prince replies: “You can’t be ashamed of your mental health. You’ve got to be able to look at it in the eye and go, ‘I’m going to deal with it, here we go’.”

Former England goalkeeper Joe Hart, 33, opens up about his struggles to deal with the decline in his career – and how he has battled to gain a place in Burnley FC’s first team.

Marvin and Aston Villa and England defender Tyrone Mings, 27, also discuss the pressures of living in the public eye.

Prince William And Our Mental Health can be seen on BBC One on Thursday at 8.05pm.

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