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Prince William 'channels Jack Whitehall' as he tells Princess Charlotte's favourite joke

The Prince of Wales kept his promise to a 12-year-old pupil to visit his school in the West Midlands

Danielle Stacey
Online Royal CorrespondentLondon
On 25 April 2024
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The Prince of Wales recounted his daughter Princess Charlotte's favourite joke as he "channelled" comedian Jack Whitehall, during an outing at a school in the West Midlands on Thursday. 

"I am here with the gang talking about male mental health and I've been asked to produce a dad joke so I'm trying to channel Jack Whitehall because most of his jokes are pretty dad-like," William said. 

"I'm going to say a joke which is Charlotte's favourite joke, at the moment, which she keeps telling me."

Find out what it is in the video below…

WATCH: Prince William tells Princess Charlotte's joke - and it's a classic

The Prince kept his promise to visit St Michael's Church of England High School in Rowley Regis after he was initially invited by 12-year-old schoolboy, Freddie Hadley, who posted a letter on X last October. 

While William was unable to visit the at the time, he responded commending Freddie and St. Michael's School on their work to tackle mental health challenges faced by pupils. 

Prince William talking to pupils in Birmingham school© Getty
William kept his promise to 12-year-old Freddie (left)

The future king joined Freddie and fellow male pupils aged 11 to 14, who are members of the school's Matrix Project, which was set up to shine a spotlight on male mental health. 

The group launched the #AmIManlyEnough campaign last year to tackle the stigma around male mental health and encourage men and boys to communicate more about their feelings. 

Prince William in the West Midland© Getty
William learned about the Matrix Project's #AmIManlyEnough campaign

William opened up about his inspiration around his work on mental health, telling the students: "It started really when I was doing lots of charitable work, I never set out to look out into mental health, particularly male mental health. 

"I was interested in homelessness, depression, addiction, all these separate areas and I hadn't really put them altogether as a jigsaw - what are we looking at? What are we trying to fix? It all came together as a mental health piece. 

"My passion, if you like, has moved now into male mental health because of the stats you [James] mentioned at the beginning, about the suicide rate in young men is just terrifying, and I wanted to do something about it."

Prince William speaking to pupils outside school in Midlands© Getty
William stopped to chat with pupils before leaving

Freddie said after the royal visit: "I really wanted to write the letter because I know Prince William is a massive advocate for male mental health. I thought if I wrote the letter to him he might recognise us, which he did on Twitter.”

"I completely thought it was the Lord Lieutenant who was coming today. Obviously, it was a great surprise so I understand why they didn’t tell me, but honestly it’s just been wonderful.

"I couldn’t get my head around it, I'm meeting Prince William the future king – it's insane really. I’m just standing there and I see Prince William walking down the drive and I'm like, wow, all this work's finally paid off."

William's outing to the West Midlands marked his second engagement since resuming his royal duties last week, when he joined a food distribution charity in Surrey. 

Kensington Palace previously said that the Prince is currently on a reduced timetable as he supports his wife, the Princess of Wales, as she undergoes preventative chemotherapy following her cancer diagnosis. 

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