Prince William talks about mental health issues in the LGBTQ+ community

Prince William marked the end of Pride Month with a special meeting. The Prince of Wales visited the Royal Vauxhall Tavern in South London, where he spoke with volunteers from The Mix charity and Shout charity. During his visit, the royal discussed mental health issues in the LGBTQ+ community and made fun of his formal attire.

Marking the end of Pride Month, William in the video of the meeting quipped that he felt 'underdressed' without glitter and sequins. In the clip, the royal is sporting a beige coat with black pants and a blue shirt.

''I feel very underdressed today in the Royal Vauxhall Tavern. I should have come with some sequins or some glitter. Maybe next time I’ll bring it,'' he says.

William talked to three volunteers, Michael Lister, 20, Sharvari Patil, 20, and Alexis Caught, about mental health challenges faced by the queer community.

"Mental fitness is very important, and we’ve got to get better at having open conversations and discussing these issues, being here today and hearing about your insights and experiences will mean a lot to young people," William said.

Further in the video, William asked the trio about how they are working and helping people with mental struggles. He even shared shocking statistics about the difficulties faced by young men when it comes to mental health support.

Sharing that he had read research from Stonewall, he said, "1 in 8 young men kill themselves in the community."

"That’s an unbelievable, terrifying stat," he added.

"We categorically know it is not sexuality or gender identity that causes mental ill health, it is actually the experience of the wide world," Alexis explained. "Experiencing homophobia, discrimination, negative discourse on social media, bullying, lack of protections, fear of how you’re going to be rejected by familyall of those things add to the mental load."

Michael shared that it's way more difficult for young men to talk about their mental health.

"Guys particularly find emotions quite difficult. Don’t quite know how to deal with them. Strong emotions, no emotions, whatever it might be we find it quite hard." Williamsaid, "I think that’s where we’ve got to get better at an open conversation about these things."

William has been very vocal aboutmental health and has always shown his support for the LGBTQ community. In 2019, William saidhe would "fully support" his children if they were gay.

Prince and Harry unite

By keeping their feud aside, Prince William and Prince Harry attended the virtual ceremony to announce the recipients of The 2023 Diana Award. The brothers honoured their late mother Princess Diana's legacy.

"As we come together, I am reminded of the profound belief my mother held in the transformative power of young people," Harry says.