World Mental Health Day 2017: Prince William praises Kate for pioneering royals' campaign

Prince William speaks at a reception on World Mental Health Day at St James' Palace on Tuesday.
PA
Robert Jobson10 October 2017

Prince William today praised his wife Kate for urging all the young royals to unite to try to end the stigma of mental health.

William said the Duchess of Cambridge realised if they put on a united front in the battle it would have a much greater impact.

Speaking on World Mental Health Day William said: "It was Catherine who first realised that all three of us were working on mental health in our individual areas of focus.

"She had seen that at the core of adult issues like addiction and family breakdown, unresolved childhood mental health issues were often part of the problem," he said.

Prince Harry speaks to guests at St James' Palace, at a reception to mark World Mental Health Day.
PA

Later today Kate will join her husband and Prince Harry at a reception - her first "public" appearance since announcing she is pregnant with her third child.

But at an earlier reception to praise those who worked on their Heads Together campaign, only William and Harry turned out.

William went on: "Harry had seen that it was not enough to help veterans recover from their physical injuries without acknowledging the emotional and mental support they required.

"And after years of working with the homeless, and having been called out to multiple scenes of suicide as a Search and Rescue and then HEMS pilot, I understood the damage poor mental health was causing to our communities and for our families.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Family Album - In pictures

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"We decided to assemble a coalition of charities – comprised of people who had spent decades working to bring mental health out of the shadows – to campaign together to change the national conversation on mental health," he said.

"And in the weeks leading up to this year's Virgin Money London Marathon, this country had a conversation on mental health that for the first time was positive and truly national.

"Up and down the country; in schools and workplaces; in towns, cities, and villages; among men and women; between young and old – the UK was finally talking about mental health.

"And they were talking without sadness, and without stigma. They were talking in a frank way, with everyday language, and without fear of judgement, to their friends, to their partners, to their children, and to their colleagues."

He said that he Kate and Harry were proud to have played our part in trying to end the stigma attached to mental health.

Harry added: "We are incredibly grateful to all of you for your contribution to Heads Together. We wanted to invite you here to express our thanks in person for the success of the campaign.

"But while we are all here to mark what has been achieved, we all know that there is much more still to be done. All of you contributed to the first truly national conversation on mental health.

"Our Royal Foundation has announced a £2 million investment to create a new digital start up that will develop solutions to help people get online support in times of crisis and times of calm as well."

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