Prince Harry Celebrates World Mental Health Day in Town That Holds Special Meaning to Meghan Markle
Prince Harry has returned to a meaningful place to celebrate World Mental Health Day.
The royal dad, 35, stepped out on Thursday in Nottingham, the town about 125 miles north of London where he and Meghan Markle took on their first official royal outing as a couple just after their Nov. 2017 engagement. (Meghan and Harry lived at Kensington Palace’s Nottingham Cottage before moving to Frogmore Cottage in Windsor Castle — and it’s even where the royal proposed during a “cozy” night roasting a chicken dinner!)
Prince Harry‘s first stop was to Nottingham Academy, where he also visited with Meghan, to join an EPIC Partners Nurture Session with students discussing mental health and emotional well-being. He met with students benefitting from a mentoring program which encourages young people to better understand their thoughts and actions. The royal dad also reconnected with students he met during his previous visit to the school to hear about how they have progressed and are now acting as role models to younger girls.
In addition to meeting Barney the therapy dog, Harry also joined a school assembly where he learned how students are dealing with stress from exams, home life and feeling overwhelmed.
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Next up, the Duke of Sussex visited the Community Recording Studio, a charity that teaches young people film and music skills by providing access to professional equipment and key industry contacts.
Harry met some of the young people who are developing a new “hip hopera” that highlights mental health issues. They will share some of their personal experiences with the prince before performing an extract of the hip hopera.
In honor of World Mental Health Day, Harry also teamed up with singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran for a fun video shared to his @SussexRoyal Instagram page. The short clip shows Sheeran meeting up with the prince in order to talk about an issue he thinks they have in common: being teased for having red hair.
“I’ve been trying to write a song about this to get it out to more people,” the hitmaker tells the royal. “People just don’t understand what it’s like for people like us — with the jokes and the snide comments. I just feel like it’s time we stood up and said, ‘We are ginger, and we are going to fight.’ ”
Harry chips in and corrects him, “Um, okay. This is slightly awkward. There may have been a miscommunication — this is about World Mental Health Day?”
When the singer realizes his mistake, he quickly deletes the title of his song — “Gingers Unite” — on his computer.
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The pair then turn to the serious message: “Reach out, make sure your friends, strangers, look out for anybody that might be suffering in silence. We’re all in this together,” Harry says directly into the camera. “Cheers.”
