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Catherine the Duchess of Cambridge has showed no signs of slowing down since announcing she is pregnant with her second child and has been busy working with her Children’s charity Place2Be.
In her latest campaign for the children’s charity, the Duchess recorded a rare and heartfelt video message encouraging parents to support their children through mental health issues.
Catherine said: “Through Place2Be I have seen the benefits of offering children support for their mental health in the safety of the school environment.”
A royal patron of the children’s mental health charity, Duchess Catherine says that both she and her husband Prince William have seen the effects issues such as bullying, bereavement and family breakdown can have on a child.
The Duchess continued: “Both William and I sincerely believe that early action can prevent problems in childhood from turning into larger ones later in life.”
“We need to help young people AND their parents understand that it’s not a sign of weakness to ask for help,” the Duchess said, emphasising that mental and emotional illness is not something to hide from or be ashamed of.
“The stigma around mental health means that many children do not get the help that they so badly need. This needs to change.”
The Duchess then made a call encouraging people to speak openly about mental health as part of the UK’s first Children’s Mental Health Week
She continued: “A child’s mental health is just as important as their physical health and deserves the same quality of support.”
The Duchess, who is now seven months pregnant, has been patron of Place2Be since 2013, hosting the first ever Wellbeing in Schools Awards for the charity at her Kensington Palace State Apartments back in November 2014.
The video is part of a week long campaign promoting children’s mental health week, which encourages parents to seek counselling for their children if they need it and not be ashamed of getting them help.
Place2be is one of two charities that the Duchess is patron of which specifically help the disadvantaged. The other is East Anglia Children’s hospices which Catherine made an emotional visit to last year.
Although the second royal baby is due in less than two months, that hasn’t slowed Catherine down from her royal duties and commitment to charity. Her first appearance of 2015 was to launch ‘The Art Room’ charity’s newest home at a London primary school.
Duchess Catherine, 33, also revealed that she can feel the royal baby kicking at another London based charity event in late January.
Duchess Catherine and the Jaeger dress
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For the new video the Duchess glowed in a blue tile-print dress by the British label Jaeger. You can snap one up for yourself too from their online shop here (if you don’t mind the $500 price tag!). You have to be quick though – Catherine of course has a reputation for making clothes sell like hotcakes once she’s worn them!
Duchess Catherine’s jewellery designer gets boost from royal approval!
Speaking about the Duchess’s new video message, a spokesperson from Kensington Palace said that: “As Royal patron of Place2Be The Duchess of Cambridge is a committed champion of issues related to children’s mental health and emotional wellbeing.
“Her Royal Highness has seen that issues such as addiction, poverty, abuse, neglect, loss and illness of family members, can have a long-lasting and traumatic impact if left unsupported.
“The Duchess of Cambridge is especially concerned with early intervention mental health support for young people, to tackle these issues at the earliest possible stage, so that children have the brightest possible futures, as they deserve.”
The Duchess concluded the video by saying that:“Together, with open conversations and greater understanding, we can ensure that attitudes to mental health change and that children receive the support they deserve.”
Watch the full video above.
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