Prince William and Kate Middleton Shine a Spotlight on Others in Their First Outing Since Release of Spare
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Prince William and Kate Middleton made their first public appearance since Prince Harry’s book was published today, but avoided answering questions about the controversial memoir. Instead, the royal couple appeared determined to try to keep the focus on others, choosing to shine a spotlight on work being done in Merseyside, north west England, on what was also their first outing of 2023.
The Prince and Princess of Wales first saw the work being done at the new Royal Liverpool University Hospital, which opened its doors in October. They chatted with staff, including volunteer Barry Moorefield, who had oesophageal cancer and now talks to people who are having the treatment he had. “It was very special,” he said about meeting the royal couple. “They were just normal, quite open, they were very interested.” He added about the significance of the visit, “The hospital has had major problems, contractual problems…to get such a beautiful hospital like this up and running in the time they’ve done is a remarkable achievement.”
Frieda Sebastian, a Deputy Ward Manager who relocated to the UK three years ago from Kerala, India, described the visit as “very exciting, a once in a lifetime opportunity.” “They were asking about the working pressures which we have. They are very aware of the pressures,” she said. “It is really encouraging to everyone to see that they know what the nurses are doing.”
Following a tour of parts of the hospital, which has 640 beds including 40 critical care beds, the couple also met some of the critical care team who William spoke to by video call in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Their second stop of the day was to highlight work being done to help young people’s mental health—something that William and Kate have long made a cornerstone of their work. They met staff and young people at the Open Door Charity, which Kensington Palace highlighted provides free access to an “innovative range of creative therapeutic support options."
They met Dan, 24, who works on the Oomoo program for 11-18-year-olds, through which he has helped young people write their own songs and even make an album. “Now they’ve got a CD which they said they would put on in the car,” Dan said about passing some of the music to the royal couple.
Of the royal visit he said, “The main thing is it shows that we’re doing something right, and we all believe here that we’re doing something important.” He described the couple as “knowledgeable and conversational,” adding, “That’s very reaffirming. Sometimes there can be a disconnect between us and people in positions of influence.”
Dan said, “Both of them, you could tell that they were really knowledgeable. Particularly Kate. It would have been easy for them to come in and not have done the research and not have known about it. But it came across how much they know mental health is a problem and how they know there’s not one way to solve it and how interested they are in finding the ways people are helping other people, and what they can do to make that more of a nationwide thing.”
Lee Pennington, founder and director of Open Door Charity, says “it was surreal but beautiful” to have the couple. “It was a bit nervy at first but then after a bit it was chilled and interesting and great.” He added about their approaches to mental health, “The Princess talked a lot about how we can get in at the earliest possible stage to support their needs. Whereas William mentioned about men and men not talking and not opening up and accessing support.”
Reece, who has taken part in the Oomoo program, said about William and Kate, “They seemed more welcoming than I actually thought they would be…It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It’s nice to know that the recognition will be there.”
Despite most people they met being keen to keep the focus on the task at hand, the royals were inevitably asked about their reaction to Harry’s tell-all book. “You hurt by the comments in Harry’s book, sir?” one reporter asked as they arrived at the hospital. Later, as they were leaving the headquarters of the mental health charity, another journalist said, “Have you had the chance to read your brother’s book?” Both times, neither William nor Kate responded.
The royal family’s decision to say nothing about Harry’s memoir so far seems to be going down pretty well with the British public. Despite the book’s at times unflattering portrayal of William, a YouGov poll this week showed that he is still very popular, with 70% of people having a positive view of him. When asked the same question, just 24% of people said they have a positive view of Harry.
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