A surprise visit for boy who wrote to William
A YOUNG boy got the shock of his life when the Prince of Wales turned up at his school after getting a letter from him last year.
Freddie Hadley, 12, had posted his handwritten message on X, formerly Twitter, on World Mental Health Day telling the royal about the brilliant work he and his friends were doing on the issue.
To his delight, William personally replied over social media and even sent him a letter. And that, thought Freddie, was that.
But yesterday the future king surprised the schoolboy by arriving unannounced at St Michael’s Church of England High School in Rowley Regis, Sandwell, during his first ‘royal away day’ to the West Midlands since news of the Princess of Wales’s cancer diagnosis was publicly announced.
Freddie had been told to prepare for a VIP guest – the Lord Lieutenant of the West Midlands – and only realised who it was when the future king got out of the car.
‘So this is the young lad who started it all off,’ William said. ‘Very nice to see you, thank you for your letter.’ ‘You’re very welcome,’ replied Freddie.
William told one member of staff: ‘Lots of people write letters but Freddie’s was a really well written letter.’
The prince took part in a session of the ‘ Matrix Project’, set up to shine a spotlight on male mental health. The group launched its #AmIManlyEnough campaign last year to encourage boys to communicate more, shocked by high male levels of suicide in the UK. Freddie told William that many still felt it wasn’t ‘masculine’ to talk about their feelings.
Describing the rate of suicide for young men as ‘terrifying’, the prince said: ‘There are a lot of people who are ... quite afraid to talk about what are very normal feelings.’
But in a lighter moment he was also invited to tell his favourite ‘dad joke’ for a radio show.
Citing his daughter Charlotte’s favourite, he continued: ‘Knock knock.’ ‘Who’s there?’ the group chorused. ‘ Interrupting cow,’ the prince continued. ‘Interrupting cow wh….’ they tried to reply as William interjected: ‘Moooo!’
Afterwards Freddie said: ‘I was shocked. It means so much to me that he has recognised what we are doing.’
The prince also visited Woodgate Valley Urban Farm just outside Birmingham.