Don’t hide tampons at home, says Duchess

THE Duchess of Edinburgh sought to break down taboos around menstrual health as she said period products should not be kept out of sight in cupboards at home.

The Duchess, 59, who is patron of Wellbeing of Women, told girls at Harris Girls Academy in East Dulwich, London, she believed tampons and sanitary pads should be on display at home, adding: “Let’s get them out of the closet.”

The Duchess also spoke candidly about her own period fears, saying: “When you have heavy periods worrying about when you stand up from a chair. That’s the worst one.”

She also spoke about how tampon sizes relate to flow rather than body shape.

She said: “If you were going shopping and your friends are going for the mini and regular tampons are you going to feel self-conscious saying, ‘I need the big guns’?

“It’s not because of the size what you are thinking: ‘Oh I must be really big down there.’”

The Duchess, who has two children, Lady Louise, 20, and the Earl of Wessex, 16, was told that some of the girls were aware of friends forced to stay at home during their periods because they could not afford sanitary pads.

She was joined at the event by Lynn Cooper, Deputy Lieutenant for Greater London, and Prof Dame Lesley Regan, chairman of Wellbeing of Women and Women’s Health Ambassador, who led a workshop for girls aged 15 to 18.

The Duchess told three boys who joined the group at the end of the workshop that they were “very brave” for agreeing to talk about periods.

She said: “I think bringing boys into the conversation is very important. I’ve been to many countries around the world and other countries seem to be more progressive.”

One boy said his sister was “very moody” before her periods.

Dame Lesley said that it was because of hormonal fluctuations, adding: “Hopefully you’ll be more sympathetic now, but I’m sure you were anyway.”