Prince William and Lady Gaga just talked about mental health over a FaceTime session.
As part of his Heads Together campaign, William is teaming up with Gaga to see what they could do together to promote mental health awareness and tackle the issues surrounding the subject, as reported by Washington Times .
The clip, which was shared via The Royal Family’s official Facebook page, shows Prince William talking to Lady Gaga over FaceTime from his home in London. Gaga, for her part, is seen wearing a homely floral top while sipping tea in the kitchen of her home in Los Angeles.
The FaceTime session started on a high note, with the two looking thrilled in seeing each other.
The Duke of Cambridge and @LadyGaga join forces to encourage more people to speak openly about their mental health #OKtosay pic.twitter.com/kCuQyS3Svn
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) April 18, 2017
“Hello Prince Charles,” Gaga said.
“I am so grateful to speak to you. I’m a very big fan of what you’ve done with Heads Together… It reminded me how much my mental health changing changed my life,” she continued.
“Hello Lady Gaga!” William said.
He thanked Gaga for acknowledging the contributions made by Heads Together in promoting mental health awareness, and then mentioned how he, along with his brother Prince Harry and wife Kate Middleton, felt how important it is that they do so.
“Throughout all our charity work from veterans to homelessness, addiction, most of it seemed to stem back to mental health issues.”
William also commended Lady Gaga for the open letter in which she wrote about her post-traumatic disorder, telling her it was courageous of her to open up about her personal struggles considering the social stigma surrounding mental health issues.
“I read your open letter you wrote the other day. I felt it was incredibly moving and very brave of you to write down such personal feelings and I wanted to ask you how you found speaking out and how it made you feel.”
Lady Gaga Pens Emotional Letter Explaining How she Copes With PTSD https://t.co/49hNZZQTqe pic.twitter.com/dRIIWQr2JA
— Shape Magazine (@Shape_Magazine) March 18, 2017
William then told Gaga about how important it is for people to realize that it’s okay to have an open conversation about mental health and to have a society that doesn’t judge those who are struggling with mental health.
The Duke of Cambridge met runners from the @heads_together ‘Mind Over Marathon’ documentary during an emotional screening at the @BBC today pic.twitter.com/AGlKKmbTSZ
— Chris Jackson (@ChrisJack_Getty) April 18, 2017
“I think for me, the little bits I’ve learned so far about mental health, it’s okay to have this conversation. It’s important to have this conversation, you won’t be judged,” he said.
“It’s important to break open that fear an [sic] taboo, which will only lead to more problems down the line.”
Gaga seconded his statement, saying, “It can make a huge difference. I feel we are not hiding anymore, we are starting to talk and that’s what we need to do, really.”
William agreed, saying that it’s about time people treat mental health care as just a matter of course, adding that it should be treated the same way people treat physical health.
“It’s time everyone speaks up and feels normal about mental health. It’s the same as physical health. Everybody has mental health and we shouldn’t be ashamed of it. Even just having a conversation with a friend or family member can make such a difference,” he said.
Gaga also talked about her own experience, saying that while it was also difficult for her to open up about mental illness, talking about it has helped not only her but also other people who were undergoing the same struggles as her. She added that it helps to know that you are not alone.
“We need to let our generation and other generations know if you’re feeling not well in your mind you’re not alone and people you think would never have a problem do,” Gaga said.
Prince William capped the FaceTime session by inviting Lady Gaga to come over to the UK in October so they can personally meet up and discuss the issue of mental health more.
“It would be great if, when you’re over here, we could meet and have a chat about how much more we could do to tackle this,” he said.
“I would love that,” Gaga responded. “We have to make the strongest, most relentless attempt we can to normalize mental health issues so that people feel they can come forward.”
William’s FaceTime session with Gaga came just a day after his brother Prince Harry opened up about his own struggle s during an interview with the Daily Telegraph .
Breaking royal custom, Prince Harry speaks of mental health problems after Diana’s death https://t.co/2lu4EWjTLw
— TIME (@TIME) April 17, 2017
Harry talked about how he tried to keep his emotions in check for many years following the death of his mother Princess Diana two decades ago, which he said had negative consequences for him emotionally down the line.
“I can safely say that losing my mum at the age of 12, and therefore shutting down all of my emotions for the last 20 years, has had a quite serious effect on not only my personal life but my work as well.”
“I have probably been very close to a complete breakdown on numerous occasions when all sorts of grief and all sorts of lies and misconceptions and everything are coming to you from every angle.”
[Featured Image by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images]
