The Prince and Princess of Wales visit BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat to mark World Mental Health Day
Their Royal Highnesses The Prince and Princess of Wales have today (Monday 10th October) visited BBC Radio 1’s Newsbeat to take part in a special episode about young people and mental health on World Mental Health Day.
The youth-focused news programme invited The Prince and Princess of Wales to lead a discussion with campaigners and experts in the field of mental health.
Looking specifically at the challenges and opportunities young people face when it comes to their mental wellbeing, The Prince and Princess of Wales met Dr Abigail Miranda, an Educational and Child Psychologist working in early years; António Ferreria, a mental health activist who was diagnosed with Undifferentiated Schizophrenia and Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder as a teenager; Ben Cowley, a registered Music Therapist and Assistant Mental Health Advisor 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, as well as Newsbeat presenter Pria Rai.
“Let’s be honest, the news can be a heavy place. It’s felt like one ‘unprecedented’ thing after another. Be it Covid, the cost of living crisis or exam stresses, it can take a toll on your mental health. Newsbeat always wants to just let our listeners know, it’s okay – you’re not the only one feeling like that. 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.”
-Newsbeat presenter, Pria Rai
The Prince and Princess of Wales previously visited Radio 1 in April 2017, when they paid a surprise visit to Adele Roberts who was running the marathon in aid of Heads Together, the pioneering mental health campaign led by Their Royal Highnesses, encouraging people to feel comfortable to speak openly about their mental health. Mental health continues to be an important element of Their Royal Highnesses work with The Royal Foundation of The Prince and Princess of Wales.
The discussion will be broadcast tomorrow (Tuesday 11th October) at 12.45pm and 5.45pm on BBC Radio 1 and will be available on BBC Sounds.
