Presenter Martin Lewis has told of his admiration for Prince William and Prince Harry in choosing to speak publicly about the death of their mother, as he admitted his struggle to talk about his own similar experience.
The money and mental health campaigner said he still finds it difficult to come to terms with losing his own mother in a car crash when he was a child.
Speaking about the royal brothers’ recent comments about the late Princess Diana, he said: “I found it difficult to watch.
“I was 12 when I lost my mum in a car accident, like Prince Harry, and his bravery in being able to talk about it is something I cannot applaud enough.”
A patron of children’s bereavement charity Grief Encounter, he continued: “I almost said no to becoming a patron because I would have to admit what my connection is.
“I never talk about what happened to me because I cannot deal with it.
“I have enormous admiration for those two men for being able to talk about something that I, in a similar situation, do not have the capacity to talk about.
“I just hope it has helped people who were in the same position as I was to get the counselling they need so that, 30 years from now, they will be able to talk about it as well.”
His comments came at the UK Community Foundations Beacon Awards on Tuesday, where he picked up the Trailblazer prize for his £17 million donations over the last five years to organisations such as Money And Mental Health Policy Institute and Citizens Advice Bureau, as well as his work on his free financial advice website moneysavingexpert?.com.
Attending the central London event on his 45th birthday, he said the accolade was a “nice birthday present”.
Dedicated to helping people with mental health difficulties develop financial independence, he said that focussing on education was more important to him than party politics.
Speaking in the weeks leading up to the General Election, he said: “It is a difficult dilemma – some policies are warmer towards social issues than others, but ultimately everything still has to be paid for.
“The current Government has been very good to us in terms of mental health and debt, but some of the effects of benefits policies on people with disabilities have not worked, so I prefer to see it issue by issue.
“You have to start educating people at a young age, but no resources have been put into financial education in the curriculum.
“At the moment I am looking into funding, with a charity, the first ever free nationwide financial education textbook.”
