Prince William and Kate Middleton urge people to keep talking about mental health
Prince William tells radio listeners to ‘keep talking’ as he and Kate Middleton lead stars including David Beckham, Joanna Lumley and Dame Shirley Bassey in a mental health message broadcast across all UK stations
- Prince William has urged radio listener to ‘keep talking’ about mental health
- Joined Kate Middleton, David Beckham and other star in a mental health minute
- Duchess of Cambridge said mental health ‘binds every single one of us together’
- Stars each spoke a line of the message written by poet and mental health activist Hussain Manawer, who also featured in the broadcast
Prince William has urged the nation to ‘keep talking’ about mental health as he joined Kate Middleton and an array of stars in a special radio broadcasts.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge appeared unfazed by Prince Harry’s explosive podcast interview yesterday as Kate said ‘mental health binds us all together’
The royal couples joined stars from the worlds of sport, television and the arts featured in the Mental Health Minute message, broadcast on airwaves across the nation to mark Mental Health Awareness Week.
David Beckham, Dame Shirley Bassey and Charles Dance were among the celebrities who each spoke a line of the message written by poet and mental health activist Hussain Manawer, who also featured in the broadcast.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge today marked Mental Health Awareness Week, with a one minute talk on more than 500 radio stations.
During the 60-second message William said: ‘So, as we come to the end of this Mental Health Awareness Week, it would be great to keep talking.’
He was followed by singer-songwriter Anne Marie, who said: ‘To a loved one, friend or colleague, let’s keep making the conversation accessible.’
Kate was next and said: ‘Because our mental health binds every single one of us together.’
It comes after Prince Harry blasted Prince Charles’ parenting as he poured his heart out to a US mental health podcast yesterday.
He said he moved to California with his family to ‘break the cycle’ of ‘pain’ he suffered as a member of the Royal Family – and needed to ‘change that for my own kids’.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (bottom right) were among the many names including Jamie Oliver and David Beckham taking part in the Mental Health minute
The Duke of Sussex also admitted he first wanted to quit The Firm in his ‘early 20s’ because of ‘what it did to my mum’ and revealed that his wife Meghan Markle had encouraged him to have therapy and had herself now concluded: ‘You don’t need to be a princess’.
Harry’s extraordinary attack on the Royal Family, two months after accusing them of racism towards his two-year-old son Archie, came as he appeared on Dax Shepard’s ‘Armchair Expert’ podcast in another big Hollywood moment for the Duke. The show promoted his Apple TV+ mental health series with Oprah Winfrey, The Me You Can’t See, which premieres next Friday – and it was also promoted in a tweet by Dax today.
The Mental Health Minute was aired simultaneously across every radio station in the UK at 10.59am on Friday, uniting commercial, community and all BBC stations, with an estimated audience of more than 20 million.
Also featured in the broadcast were chef Jamie Oliver, England footballer Jesse Lingard and actress Joanna Lumley.
Dame Shirley began the broadcast by saying: ‘Every radio station across the nation right now in this very moment is singing the same song,’ and was followed by Lumley who added: ‘That’s right, we’re all broadcasting the same energy.’
Charles Dance, known to modern audiences for his role in Game Of Thrones, said: ‘Transmitting much-needed empathy we’re all hitting the same notes,’ and former England football star Beckham said: ‘Taking time to reflect, through the most challenging of years coming together, to share understanding, love and hope.’
Delivered by Radiocentre, the industry body for commercial radio, and independent podcast and audio producer Somethin’ Else, the Mental Health Minute was created in partnership with the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Shout was researched and developed by The Royal Foundation as a legacy of the Heads Together campaign and launched in May 2019 by The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and The Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
The service provides round the clock support from clinical supervisors and trained volunteers to ensure that no one has to face their problems alone.
Hosted annually by the Mental Health Foundation, Mental Health Awareness Week is in its 21st year and will run from Monday 10th – Sunday 16th May.
Yesterday, the couple visited the West Midlands for a day of engagements meeting groups that help young people with their mental health.
The first stop was The Way Youth Zone, a state-of-the-art facility that offers activities and support for young people, where Kate and William got their hands dirty planting flower pots. Sporty Kate looked in her element as she tried her hand at archery, while William couldn’t resist showing off his football skills.
Later the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited Base25, which provides vital services like anger management courses and counselling to young people, before rounding off the day at HugglePets in the Community, which uses animal encounters to help tackle children’s mental health issues like anxiety and depression.
Eye on the prize! Sporty Kate, 39, was in her element as she took part in an archery session and played a game of table tennis at the Way Youth Zone, a state-of-the-art facility that offers activities and support for young people
How does your garden grow? The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were all smiles as they did some watering and planting during a visit to The Way Youth Zone in Wolverhampton, with Kate looking chic in a navy Tory Burch blouse and an elegant dark blue coat
Kate and the chameleon! The Duchess of Cambridge held a chameleon on a visit to HugglePets in the Community, which uses animals to tackle children’s mental health issues
Kate, has made children’s mental health and childhood development the cornerstone of her royal work.
The Duke and Duchess joined a group of young people who use The Way’s services as they took part in a number of wellbeing sessions and met a group of HeadStart ambassadors.
The Duke and Duchess’s second visit was to Base25, a city-centre charity that has been operating for over twenty years to provide support for young people who have difficulties in accessing mainstream services.
The charity works with approximately 9,000 young people each year and offers a range of services for children, young people and their families including counselling and a daily drop-in centre.
On Monday, the second in a series of calls between The Duchess and participants from the Hold Still photography project was released earlier today on The Duke and Duchess’ YouTube channel.
In the autumn, The Duchess spoke to Niaz Maleknia and her daughter Romy, who features in Niaz’s photographic portrait entitled Cancelled.
In the video, Romy can be heard speaking to The Duchess about some of the difficulties that young people experienced during lockdown, including the cancellation of their exams, and the impact that this challenging period had on the mental health of students.
