On Thursday, Prince William made a trip to Rowley Regis, a town in England’s West Midlands region, to meet a young boy who made a special request to the prince by letter. Last year, 12-year-old Freddie Hadley invited William to St Michael’s Church of England High School to learn more about the Matrix Project, a group they founded to spotlight boys’ mental health, for World Mental Health Day. William thanked Hadley at the time, but this week, he traveled to the school to meet the student and spend some time learning about the campus initiative to support mental health.
“I’m just standing there and see Prince William walking down… and I’m like, ‘Woah,’” Hadley told Sky News afterward. “I couldn’t get my head around it… I’m meeting Prince William, the future king, it’s insane.” Hadley added that he and the prince discussed mental health but they also talked about their shared favorite soccer team, Aston Villa.
He talked with a range of students about the wellbeing programs at the school, before joining the boys of the Matrix Project to do a special appearance on their podcast. Before diving into conversation, the prince warmed up by sharing a few “dad jokes,” including one he said he learned from his daughter, Princess Charlotte. “Knock, knock,” he said, and the students responded, “Who’s there?”
“Interrupting cow,” said the prince, adding “Moo!” as the students tried to repeat it back.
He added that some of the humor at his house might not be appropriate to air. “That is what I hear a lot at home at the moment. That’s the greatest one I can think of that is clean and broadcastable.”
The trip to Rowley Regis marked William’s second day back to public engagements after an extended break after his wife, Kate Middleton, announced a recent cancer diagnosis on March 22. In a video shared with news organizations, the princess said the cancer was discovered after a January abdominal surgery and as a result, she was undergoing a round of chemotherapy.
Kerry Whitehouse, St Michael’s mental health specialist, told People that students gave the prince gifts for his wife during the Thursday visit, including sunflowers made of Legos “building things is therapeutic and sunflowers represent happiness, positivity, and strength” and sunflower seeds in order “to sow seeds of positivity.” Whitehouse said, “He thanked us and said the Lego would go down well in the house.”
Erin Vanderhoof
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