Prince William and Princess Kate have apologised for missing an event supporting young people's mental health.
The royals, who spent World Mental Health day in Birmingham, helping with a charity initiative, were unable to attend another wellbeing-focused event, at a secondary school in the West Midlands.
However, they nonetheless wanted to support the schoolchildren after receiving a handwritten invitation to the event, as Prince William explained in a rare public apology.
Responding to the school, who shared news of their celebrations online, a response from the couple's official X (formerly Twitter) account passed on their best wishes. Signed 'W', the signature indicates the sweet reply came from Prince William himself.
In the first post, @SStmichaels explained how St Michael's students invited the Prince and Princess of Wales to celebrate the launch of a campaign promoting mental health.
In a letter (attached to the post), pupil Freddie Hadley said the campaign "aims to tackle the stigma that 'girls cry and boys get mad'." He also expressed his concerns over the high rate of male suicide, emphasising the importance of conversation.
Everyone's clicking on...
Unfortunately, Prince William could not accept Freddie's invitation, but he wanted to show his support in another way.
Answering the pupil, he wrote: "Good afternoon Freddie, I’m so sorry Catherine and I can’t be with you and the rest of the students at St Michael’s today. Tackling mental health challenges and stigmas head on is so important, please keep up this important work. W."
The sweet exchange quickly amassed thousands of views, igniting quite the conversation, just as Freddie wished.
One viewer praised: "Wonderful that Freddie received a personal response for all of his important work." A second said: "I absolutely love this," and the school replied: "Thank you so much! This message is everything."
To mark World Mental Health Day, Prince William and Princess Kate hosted a forum for young people, working together with The Royal Foundation, The Mix and BBC Radio 1.
The event in Birmingham included several workshops, and Princess Kate delivered a speech sharing her hope for "fairer, safer, kinder, more equal societies".
Amber O’Connor is Cosmopolitan UK’s former junior features writer, who covers everything from breaking news, women’s safety and real life features to fitness, travel, and cultural trends. She works on first-person features, reports, and long reads, plus the hottest stories of the day (if you want to know about the latest wellness craze or TikTok trends, she’s your girl). Amber has previously worked as a reporter and a lifestyle writer, with her work appearing in numerous publications, including The Mirror, Red Magazine, Evening Standard, Indy100, and Yahoo News. When she’s not working her way through her TBR list, Amber loves dancing, running, and going on adventures with her dog.
