Prince William, Kate donate for pandemic mental health work

Britain’s Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge meets with a member of the four organizations that will benefit from the Royal Foundation COVID-19 response fund, on the Sandringham Estate, Sandringham, England. (Kensington Palace via AP)

LONDON  —The foundation of Britain’s Prince William and Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, has awarded almost 1.8 million pounds ($2.3 million) to support the mental health of front line workers and others affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

The couple’s Royal Foundation Covid-19 Response Fund is helping a range of projects, including a charity that provides individual grief trauma counselling to workers in ambulance, fire, police and search and rescue services. Another grant aims to help support the mental health of thousands of pregnant women and new parents.

The royals spoke earlier this week with two emergency responders and two mental health counsellors at Queen Elizabeth II’s Sandringham Estate.

Kate spoke of the “lasting impact” that the pandemic would have on the mental health of many front line workers.

Kate and William, along with Prince Harry, launched a campaign called Heads Together in 2016 to inspire more people to speak out about mental health and tackle the stigma around the topic. Both William and Harry have opened up about their own mental health issues dealing with the loss of their mother, Princess Diana, who died in a Paris car crash in 1997.

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