‘Even Though Death is Part of Life it's Still Taboo'

Princess Diana was her friend and the Duke of Cambridge is patron of her charity but, as Julia Samuel talks to Anna Moore about her book on grief, it’s clear her desire to help the bereaved has taken her far from the privileged elite

JULIA, 57, was born into the aristocratic Guinness family but began working at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, counselling mothers whose babies had died. 

Together with Jenni Thomas as Founder, who was running a similar service in Buckinghamshire, Julia launched and established Child Bereavement UK in 1994. She was supported by her friend Princess Diana, who was godmother to Julia’s youngest son. Today, Julia is godmother to Prince George. As a psychotherapist, Julia’s work today involves private sessions with grieving parents. She previously had an NHS post at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, where for 22 years she was a maternity and paediatric counsellor – a role she pioneered. Her first book, Grief Works, discusses how to heal again after bereavement. Julia is married to Michael Samuel and the couple have four adult children.

Bereavement, psychotherapy, talking about your feelings certainly wasn’t a world I knew anything about. My parents were from the generation who’d fought in the Second World War and been brought up by survivors of the First. The way of surviving was to “get on and be strong”.

My mother had lost both parents, her brother and sister by the age of 25. My father had also lost his father and brother young. None of this was discussed. Unconsciously, I think my career path must have been influenced by that.