Wednesday, 17 February 2016

Kate makes headlines to show Young Minds Matter

She's made no secret of her passion to put children's mental health issues at the top of the agenda and today the Duchess of Cambridge made sure there were plenty of headlines about it as she guest edited the Huffington Post for a day. And from early on, Kate the Journalist made sure everyone was talking about why #YoungMindsMatter.


The Duchess of Cambridge guest edits the Huffington Post for the day, turning Kensington Palace into a newsroom
(photo Kensington Palace Instagram)

The duchess turned Kensington Palace into a newsroom as she welcomed editors from the Huffington Post to help launch 'Young Minds Matter', their new series about the psychological and emotional issues affecting children and teenagers. But while the first headlines were all about a royal turning journalist, the guest editor wanted all her readers to concentrate on a very difficult issue.




Kate, in a guest blog, spoke about the fear some parents have of admitting that their children need psychological or emotional support. She said that she and Prince William wouldn't hesitate to get help if they felt their son, George, or daughter, Charlotte, ever needed it and urged people to remember that emotional illnesses are just as important and treatable as physical conditions.  Kate added that ''We hope to encourage George and Charlotte to speak about their feelings, and to give them the tools and sensitivity to be supportive peers to their friends as they get older. We know there is no shame in a young child struggling with their emotions or suffering from a mental illness.''







Kate's day at the helm began with an editorial meeting at Kensington Palace although she had already been heavily involved in the coverage being given to Young Minds Matter and had commissioned articles and videos linked to the topic. Some of the young people who featured in one of the films, called 'Real Truth', also visited the royal newsroom to talk to Kate about their experiences.





The First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama,  wrote a blog for the launch of this new series in which she urged everyone to shine a light on mental health. She also urged people to end the stigma sometimes attached to mental health issues to make it easy for those who need support to get it.





Kate's venture into journalism has attracted a huge amount of attention which means that this cause, which she has really taken to her heart in the past few months, is getting even more attention, The campaign, Young Minds Matter, goes on and so does Kate's work on mental health issues.  And by opening up about how she feels about children's emotional issues, the Duchess of Cambridge is helping to shine a spotlight on a difficult but important topic.


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