Kate Middleton Says Her Efforts With Mental Health Have “Definitely” Impacted How She Parents Her Kids

The Duchess of Cambridge has spent many years raising awareness for mental health alongside her husband, Prince William, and brother-in-law, Prince Harry, and now, Kate Middleton is revealing her efforts have “definitely” affected how she parents her two kids, Prince George, 4, and Princess Charlotte, 2.

“You can’t help but reflect on your own life and it’s definitely had an impact on how I mother, how we work as a family and you know, how we hope to bring up our children,” she said at the Royal Foundation Forum in London on Wednesday, Feb. 28. This was her first public event alongside Meghan Markle, Will, and Harry.

In a recent video for the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families, Kate raised awareness for mental health. “Mental health is how we feel and think. Things that can’t really be seen, but that affect us every day and talking about them can feel difficult,” she said in the clip.

Her husband has also been vocal about mental health in the past — and revealed that “we all” struggle with it sometimes. “Mental health was the great taboo. If you were anxious, it’s because you were weak,” William said in a previous interview. “If you couldn’t cope with whatever life threw at you, it’s because you were failing. Successful, strong people don’t suffer like that, do they? But of course — we all do. It’s just that few of us speak about it.”

His little brother, Harry, realized that not many speak of it, so he decided to share his story about his own battle after the passing of his mother, Princess Diana. At age 28, he sought out professional help. “I didn’t know what was wrong with me,” he shared. “[I was] very close to a complete breakdown on numerous occasions.”

He later opened up about his decision to tell his story. “I’ve shared, just as much as everybody else has during this campaign. And after how many years of listening to stories from veterans and their families and then specifically in this campaign, William, Kate, and I hearing some of the most heartwrenching stories based around what people have experienced and then the mental anguish that’s happened from then, it was only right to share my experiences to hope to encourage others to come forward and smash that stigma, to make it easier for them to talk about their own experiences. So I was just doing my bit,” he said. The royal family is such an inspiration!

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