William and Kate to take over Newsbeat for World Mental Health Day special
The Prince and Princess of Wales have recorded a special programme on BBC Radio One’s Newsbeat for World Mental Health Day.
The royal couple announced on Monday evening’s Newsbeat show that they would lead discussions on the importance of mental health for a programme that will be broadcast on BBC Radio One at 12.45pm on Tuesday.
William and Kate, who recorded the show at the Newsbeat studio on Monday, will talk to advocates and experts about young people and their mental health.
In the surprise announcement, Kate told BBC Radio One listeners that “Newsbeat will sound slightly different” on Tuesday.
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 added they will talk about mental health toolboxes which can provide people with coping skills and resources to alleviate 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.
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 to the royal couple.
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“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 who was diagnosed with undifferentiated schizophrenia and emotionally unstable personality disorder 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.
On the visit, Aled Haydn Jones, head of BBC Radio One, said: “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.”
Danielle Dwyer, editor of BBC Radio One’s Newsbeat, added: “Talking about mental wellbeing 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.”
Ms 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.”
The programme will be first broadcast at 12.45pm on BBC Radio One, BBC Radio One Extra and Asian Network.
It will also be broadcast again on Radio One and Radio One Extra at 5.45pm and will be available on BBC Sounds from 2pm on Tuesday.