Prince William and Kate Middleton Host Mental Health Forum in Birmingham For Young People
Prince William and Kate have long made it clear that championing mental health is a cornerstone of their royal work. And today, they traveled to Birmingham to mark World Mental Health Day by taking to the stage for a discussion with young people.
The Prince and Princess of Wales arrived at events venue Factory Works in Birmingham just before 2pm to take part in a talk with 100 16 to 24-year-olds called Exploring Our Emotional Worlds. The event, hosted by the Royal Foundation in partnership with mental health charity The Mix and alongside BBC Radio 1, is about understanding and managing emotions to boost resilience and build positive relationships.
“Through their years of work in this space, the Prince and Princess have spent time listening to experts, practitioners and leading organisations as well as people of all backgrounds with a huge range of different mental health experiences,” Kensington Palace said in a statement. “As a result, their Royal Highnesses believe firmly that strengthening our ability to recognise and manage our emotions is essential to boosting our resilience and building the positive relationships we all need to thrive as individuals and as a society.”
The couple’s visit comes as their Royal Foundation has found that around 95% of 16 to 24-year-olds in the UK say they think their peers are having some sort of problem with their mental health. The survey from 3,000 young people also found that 39% of 16–24-year-olds feel that they don't manage their emotions very well 65% say their mental health is very important to them.
William and Kate started the Heads Together program in 2016 alongside Prince Harry to encourage a conversation around mental health. Their appearance in Birmingham today comes as Harry and Meghan are taking part in their own discussion in New York about mental wellness in the digital age. The royal brothers are no longer on speaking terms following the fallout of Harry and Meghan’s departure from royal life in March 2020.
Tomorrow and on Thursday, William and Kate will carry out more engagements across the U.K to highlight mental health challenges and solutions.
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