Portrait of a (slightly awkward) Prince opening his heart on mental health with pop’s queen of outrage
ONE is a global star totally at ease performing to millions and wearing outrageous outfits such as a dress made of meat – the other, a prince in a woolly jumper sitting a little awkwardly surrounded by antiques in his palace.
But Lady Gaga and Prince William found common ground as they discussed mental health in an extraordinary video call yesterday.
Their conversation was filmed to promote the prince’s Heads Together campaign, which he is supporting along with the Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, to tackle the stigma around mental health.
In the footage, the second in line to the throne is shown settling into his study at Kensington Palace to conduct a Face-Time video call with US singer Lady Gaga, who pops into view sipping coffee in her Hollywood kitchen.
‘Hello Prince William!’ she said. ‘I’m a very big fan.’ Looking not entirely comfortable on his antique chair, the Duke replied: ‘Hello Lady Gaga.’ The pair then swapped remarks about the transatlantic time difference, with her saying ‘good morning, well it’s afternoon there,’ and William saying: ‘Yeah exactly, good morning, good afternoon.’
But after the initial awkwardness, the pair settled into their candid conversation.
Lady Gaga, 31, who has built a career on being one of the planet’s wackiest superstars, had a stripped-back look – with a neat blow dry and simple floral jacket – as she spoke movingly about her struggle, saying: ‘For me waking up every day feeling sad and going on stage is just very hard to describe. There’s a lot of shame attached to mental illness. You feel like something’s wrong with you.
‘And you look at all these beautiful things that I have and I should be so happy. But you can’t help it if you wake up, you are so tired, you are so sad, you are so full of anxiety and the shakes that you can barely think. It was like saying: “This is a part of me and that’s OK”.’
The singer – whose real name is Stefani Germanotta – wrote an open letter in December about her battle with post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety, and in yesterday’s call William described the letter as ‘incredibly moving and very brave’.
The Duke of Cambridge, 34, told her: ‘It’s time that everyone speaks up and feels very normal about mental health. It’s the same as physical health.
‘Everybody has mental health. We shouldn’t be ashamed of it. Just having a conversation with a friend or family member can really make such a difference.’
Lady Gaga replied: ‘Even though it was
‘It’s time everyone speaks up’
hard, it was the best thing that could come out of my mental illness was to share it with other people, and to let people know that if you are feeling not well in your mind, that you are not alone.
‘We have to make the strongest, most relentless attempt we can to normalise mental health issues, so that people feel like they can come forward.’ In their fiveminute chat, William casually dropped in: ‘I hear you are potentially coming over to the UK in October? Be great if we could meet up.’ The singer agreed to join William, Kate and Harry to promote Heads Together. The prince said it was ‘really important to have this conversation’, adding: ‘You won’t be judged. It’s so important to break open that fear and that taboo.’
Lady Gaga admitted talking about mental health had made her nervous at first but was convinced it had helped, adding: ‘It can make a huge difference. I feel like we are not hiding any more. We are starting to talk. That is what we need to do.’
The video, posted on the monarchy’s Facebook page yesterday, is the latest in a series called #oktosay showing people from all walks of life discussing mental health.