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On Saturday, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge made a trip to MIND’s Time to Change program, where they met with young people who have struggled (or are still struggling) with mental health issues. By most accounts, William and Kate were engaged with the young people and they did draw attention to the project’s good work. And of course Will and Kate got something out of it too – they are newly “energized” about something, just a month before what will likely be several weeks of vacation in Mustique. Well, People Magazine did a write-up about the kinds of questions Kate asked of the youths. I found this interesting.

Princess Kate’s role as a royal mom of two has made her an even stronger advocate for fighting the stigma surrounding children’s mental health. During an event to mark World Mental Health Day on Saturday, she and husband Prince William praised the courage of young people for talking about mental health, and urged them to keep the conversation going with new ideas for tackling the problem. Kate bonded in particular with 19-year-old Emma Peacock, who was 8 years old when she was misdiagnosed with ADHD – she is, in fact, bipolar.

“I made the mistake of telling my friends first,” Peacock said. “That was not a good idea. Because they didn’t understand, they stigmatized it and I was excluded.”

Kate then asked, “Did you find it hard to tell your mother about it, not wanting to worry your mother? I always find you never want to worry your family about anything.”

Peacock responded, “I was so scared my family would worry, you always want to protect your family, so I found it really hard.”

The royal then turned the conversation to Peacock’s mother, Nadine, who was also at the event at Harrow College, asking, “From a mother’s perspective, how has it affected you?”

Nadine replied, “When your child is going through such difficulties and anxieties, and struggling with mental health, it is heartbreaking. A lot of her friends wouldn’t talk about it because it was taboo.”

Prince William told the group, “I could sit here and talk to you for hours. Thank you so much for sharing your stories with us. You are being incredibly brave doing this. I know it’s not easy for you re-living your experiences again and again.”

Kate, who has been undertaking a key role in raising the issue through a wide-ranging series of visits and events, added, “I keep thinking about what else we can do and how we can raise awareness. Keep the ideas coming. We think it’s so important. Talking about mental health is so important.”

[From People]

William saying he “could” sit there and talk for hours is interesting, because just a few hours later, Will and Kate made an appearance at a World Cup rugby game. I’m just saying… if you want to give yourself time to really meet people, you don’t schedule your appearance in a short window of time in between hair appointments and rugby games.

But I found Kate’s aside especially interesting: “Did you find it hard to tell your mother about it, not wanting to worry your mother? I always find you never want to worry your family about anything.” WHOA. I mean, I understand that she was trying to relate to a teenager and good for her taking it to a personal level, but I feel like Kate might have revealed something very interesting about herself and her relationship with Carole.

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Photos courtesy of WENN.
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