A schoolboy spoke of his shock today after Prince William apologised to him publicly on Twitter for being unable to join him at a school event.
Freddie Hadley, 12, invited the heir to the throne to come to St Michael’s Church of England High School in Rowley Regis, West Midlands, to join the launch of a mental health awareness campaign yesterday.
“We are contacting you in the hope that you will support our campaign #AmIManlyEnough? which aims to tackle the stigma that ‘girls cry and boys get mad,'” Freddie wrote. “Through our work, we discovered that suicide is the biggest killer in young males and that won’t change until people start the conversation.
“Our passion for mental health has given us opportunities to organise and lead community events, present at national conferences, take part in radio interviews and even gain celebrity endorsement.”
His letter of invitation was published on Twitter, now also known as X, by teacher Kerry Whitehouse, the school’s mental health lead, and went viral, attracting more than 140,000 views.
William, 41, was already committed to another trip to Birmingham to attend a youth forum with the Princess of Wales but on the train to the West Midlands today/yesterday he wrote, apologising to Freddie and his school friends.
“Good afternoon Freddie, I’m so sorry Catherine and I can’t be with you and the rest of the students at St Michael’s today,” he wrote in a personal tweet using his first initial. “Tackling mental health challenges and stigmas head on is so important, please keep up this important work. W.”
Freddie, who is part of a group of 11 to 14-year-old boys called The Matrix Project which meets weekly to discuss the importance of mental health, was stunned to have been noticed by the future King.
“I was standing there in shock, shaking,” he told the Daily Express after his teacher had pointed out the royal response. “I’m just really grateful that I got a response from someone that famous.”
The schoolboy, who lives in Rowley Regis in Sandwell, is passionate about encouraging his peers to speak up about their mental health. “It’s something that I think is so important,” he said.
