Fatherhood showed me how precious life is: Prince William

London: Britain's Prince William has said that fatherhood has made him "weirdly" more emotional and appreciative of how precious life is.

In a documentary for ITV to mark the 40th anniversary of his father Prince Charles' charity - the Prince's Trust, the third in line to Britain's throne for the first time has spoken about his fears over not seeing his children grow up.

He admits that since becoming a father to Prince George and Princess Charlotte, he has found "the smallest thing" brings him close to tears.

"It puts it all in perspective the idea of not being around to see your children grow up," the 33-year-old said in the documentary.

"I'm a lot more emotional than I used to be. Weirdly. I never used to really get too wound up or worried about things, but now the smallest little things I can feel you well up a little bit more.

"And you get affected by things that happen around the world a lot more, I think, as a father. Just because you realise how precious life is," he says in the 90-minute feature shot over a year titled 'When Ant and Dec Met The Prince: 40 Years of the Prince's Trust'.

Prince Charles told the show that he hoped his sons, William and Harry, would take over the trust one day.

"I hope one of them might take an interest in it because I am probably getting past my sell-by date now," the 67-year-old said.

His sons also paid tribute to their father's charity work, saying he had an "insurmountable amount of duty in him".

William and Harry, who were interviewed together, also joked about the long letters their father sends them, apparently reluctant to pick up the phone to his sons and having failed to master texting.

Speaking in the same documentary, Prince Charles' wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, said she was "really proud" to be married to somebody who "had the vision" to launch the Prince's Trust when aged 27.

The Prince of Wales also paid tribute during the programme to his 68-years-old "darling wife", when asked how the duchess supports him: "In every way. Just by being there and being wonderfully encouraging and supportive."

The Prince's Trust was set up in 1976 after the Prince of Wales left the Royal Naval. Concerned that too many people were being excluded from society, Charles used his severance pay of 7,400 pounds to fund community projects which later led to formation of the charity.