Prince William and Kate record special BBC Radio show for World Mental Health Day

Royal couple will discuss the importance of mental well-being with experts during programme

The Prince and Princess of Wales with Emma Hardwell, Ben Cowley, Antonio Ferreira, Dr Abigail Miranda and Pria Rai at the 'Newsbeat' studios on Monday. BBC / PA
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Prince William and Kate have recorded a special programme on BBC Radio One’s Newsbeat to mark World Mental Health Day.

The Prince and Princess of Wales announced on Monday evening’s show that they would lead discussions on the importance of mental health for a programme to be broadcast on BBC Radio One at 12.45pm on Tuesday.

The royal couple, who recorded the show at the Newsbeat studio on Monday, will talk to advocates and experts about young people and their mental well-being.

In the surprise announcement, Kate told BBC listeners that “Newsbeat will sound slightly different” on Tuesday.

Prince William then said: “As part of World Mental Health Day, Katherine and I have recorded a special programme taking over the radio to talk about the importance of mental health.”

The prince said they would talk about mental health tools that could provide people with coping skills and resources to ease anxiety and depression.

“You could be living one life one minute and something massively changes and you realise you don’t necessarily have the tools or the experience to be able to tackle that,” he said.

Prince William and Kate, Princess of Wales, visit Northern Ireland – in pictures

Kate also told listeners that she would “love to know” how they look after their own mental health, which was followed by a guest then explaining his approach.

“There’s no right or wrong, that’s the thing as well. Different things will work for different people,” she said.

The prince and princess spoke to Newsbeat presenter Pria Rai, Dr Abigail Miranda, an educational and child psychologist working in early years, and Antonio Ferreira, a mental health activist had undifferentiated schizophrenia and emotionally unstable personality disorder diagnosed as a teenager.

They also spoke to Ben Cowley, a registered music therapist and assistant mental health adviser for the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and Emma Hardwell, a youth participation officer at The Mix, which offers mental health support to those under the age of 25.

Prince William and his wife Kate visit Wales - in pictures

“What was discussed today will resonate with so many of our listeners and it means so much to us that we can all work together to help tackle the stigma around this issue,” said Aled Haydn Jones, head of BBC Radio One.

Danielle Dwyer, editor of Newsbeat, said: “Talking about mental well-being without stigma or judgment is so key and it’s brilliant to welcome the Prince and Princess of Wales to our reporting team for the day, to join us in such a vital conversation."

Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales thank staff in Windsor - in pictures

Rai said: “People not only switch us on to get the news, but to share openly and frankly how they are feeling.

“That’s humbling, to be a trusted part of people’s lives enough that they can send us a text about feeling lonely, or having lost a loved one.

“We have total strangers speaking to each other on the radio who soon feel like familiar friends and that’s a really important, uplifting part of what we do.”

Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge with their children - in pictures

The programme will be first broadcast on BBC Radio One, BBC Radio One Extra and Asian Network.

It will be broadcast again on Radio One and Radio One Extra at 5.45pm, and will be available on BBC Sounds from 2pm on Tuesday.

Updated: October 10, 2022, 10:33 PM