Kate Middleton has paid a visit to a mental health service originally backed by Meghan Markle and Prince Harry.
The Duchess of Cambridge, wearing a dress by Derek Lam, met volunteers from Shout, a text service for people with mental health problems, on Wednesday.
The organisation is celebrating a new milestone after recording a million conversations with people in need of support predominantly about feeling suicidal, depressed or anxious.
It was set up by The Royal Foundation charity, which Kate shares with her husband, Prince William, and which was at the the time also a project backed by Meghan and Harry.
The young royals, once nicknamed "The Fab Four" by the British media, worked on Shout together in its early stages.
The project has greater resonance even than that, however, as it emerged from another campaign, Heads Together, tied around the London Marathon in 2017, before Meghan and Harry got married.
At the time, the brothers were calling for Britons to discuss their mental health under the banner #oktosay and themselves spoke about the death of their mother, Princess Diana.
But the relationship has soured significantly since, with Harry openly acknowledging the rift with his brother in an ITV documentary as early as Fall 2019.
Biography Battle of Brothers suggested William ultimately threw Harry out of Kensington Palace in 2019.
Meghan told Oprah Winfrey she was feeling suicidal in January 2019 after negative press coverage that the palace would not officially pushback on.
The Sussexes split from The Royal Foundation in June, 2019, setting up their own charity Sussex Royal which itself later closed when they jumped ship to America.
Shout was launched on the back of a £3 million donation by the foundation in May 2019, a month before the division became public.
William gave no hint at the disagreements taking place behind closed doors at the launch event when he said: "Over the last year, together with now Meghan as well, we've been working behind the scenes with the incredible team at Mental Health Innovations on a special new project to deliver those legacies."
Family disputes did not appear to be anywhere near the front of Kate's mind as she met London teenager Leo Street, 13, who raised £8,000 for the service by sleeping outside in a tent during all of 2021.
The duchess learned how the number of people using Shout has spiked since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The data collected has also helped create a portrait of the nation's mental health, with 34 percent of those reaching out feeling suicidal, 32 percent struggling with anxiety and 31 percent experiencing stress.
Recognizing Shout reaching the one million milestone, a Kensington Palace spokesperson said: "Shout is the UK's only 24/7 text messaging support service, offering free and confidential help for anyone who is struggling to cope.
They added: "Shout has seen usage on its platform increase by 140% since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and The Duchess will hear how the service will need even more volunteers to join its ranks to ensure that it can meet this growing demand."
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Jack Royston is Newsweek's Chief Royal Correspondent based in London, U.K. He reports on the British royal family—including King Charles ... Read more
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