Ms Mannings said she had met Prince William a few times before and had spoken about “emotional things” so she knew the conversation “wasn’t going to be easy”.
“Talking about suicide and loss never is – but I was surprised by how hard he found it.”
“Seeing him upset at my kitchen table was tough.
“Normally, you’d give someone a big cwtch, but he’s the future king – I wasn’t sure what I could do.”
Despite the emotion, she said the atmosphere was “incredibly relaxed”, with “lots of hugs” and hand-holding throughout.
“It was lovely to see how much it mattered to him – not just hearing our story, but looking at how we stop this happening to other families.
“He is obviously very passionate about that, and that came across in bucketloads.”
Prince William stayed for over an hour and “never looked at his watch” and even chatted with her as he got into the car, Ms Mannings said.
Her children, Holly, 17, and Isaac, 16, were surprised by how “normal” he was.
Ms Mannings explained how they said: “That was weird – he’s just so normal.
“He spoke to them like someone we knew. He makes it very easy to forget who he is.
“It was a very special day.”
Ms Mannings also shared how her mum, Chris Jones, 78, wanted to make the prince a Victoria sponge and some Welsh cakes.
But with the conversation running long, they didn’t get round to it – so as he left, they offered to send them home for George, Charlotte and Louis.
He accepted – and left with the cakes packed in one of Ms Jones’ tupperware boxes.