Royals comfort father of tragic Molly
THEY have made tackling mental health problems one of their priorities.
And yesterday the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge comforted the father of Molly Russell, who killed herself after viewing graphic suicide content on Instagram.
William, who has been highly critical of the tech giants in their response to issues such as online bullying, also questioned whether they were doing enough to remove harmful content when he and Kate met Ian Russell yesterday.
‘Do you think companies like Instagram are doing enough?’ the future king asked him, before putting his hand on his shoulder and adding: ‘If we can help you in any way please let us know.’
Molly, 14, from Harrow, north-west London, took her own life in November 2017 after viewing material on self-harm and suicide. Mr Russell, who has accused Instagram of ‘helping to kill’ his daughter because of the material she accessed, welcomed the Cambridges’ support.
‘My thoughts on Instagram are, we’re grateful that they’re doing something but they need to do a lot more,’ he said.
Mr Russell met William and Kate at an event at Troubador White City Theatre in west London. It was held to celebrate the work of volunteers for Shout, Britain’s first national round-the-clock text messaging support service helping people in crisis.
Shout was launched in May by William and Kate, along with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. They have put £3million from their former joint charitable organisation, the Royal Foundation, into the service.
Shout was set up to provide extra help for those encouraged to speak out by the Heads Together mental health initiative created by the young royals in 2017.