When the Prince of Wales received an invitation to visit St. Michael’s Church of England High School in Rowley Regis, in the West Midlands, he sent a reply on X (formerly Twitter).
A letter from student Freddie Hadley revealed that he was part of a group called The Matrix Project, which aims to spotlight male mental health and destigmatise boys displaying emotions. The student was taking part in a letter-writing campaign to get high-profile people to support the campaign #AmIManlyEnough?
In his letter, Hadley writes: “…As part of World Mental Health Day, we are hosting a soft launch of our campaign and would love you to join us as a VIP.” He adds that “our passion for mental health has given us opportunities to organise and lead community events, present at national conferences, take part in radio interviews and even gain celebrity endorsement.”
The school posted a photo of Hadley’s letter on X, writing, “When your students create a guest list and include his Royal Highness Prince William ? Some might think this is wildly ambitious but as Walt Disney once said ‘all our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.’”
The school elaborated in another post prior to Willliam’s reply that “We are blown away by all of the likes, shares and lovely comments! Sadly we do not have any updates but the group feel incredibly inspired by all the support they have received on this post.”
Unfortunately for the students, William was already scheduled to spend World Mental Health Day in Birmingham alongside Catherine, but the royal took time to reply to the school’s photo, writing: “Good afternoon Freddie, I’m so sorry Catherine and I can’t be with you and the rest of the students at St Michael’s today. Tackling mental health challenges and stigmas head on is so important, please keep up this important work. W.”
After William’s reply went viral on X, the school replied to his message with, “Thank you so much! This message is everything.”
