Prince William speaks with Lady Gaga on mental health

LONDON — Prince William has brought Lady Gaga onboard in his efforts to persuade people to be more open about their mental health and crush the stigma associated with the issue.

The heir to the throne released a video on Tuesday (April 18) in which he speaks with the pop superstar in a FaceTime call from his home in London to her home in Los Angeles.

Prince William says it is “time that everyone speaks up and really feels very normal about mental health. It’s the same as physical health.”

Lady Gaga says that talking more openly about mental health would allow people to feel like “we are not hiding anymore”.

Prince William, his wife the Duchess of Cambridge and his brother Prince Harry have made mental health a focus of their charitable work.

In the past, maintaining a stiff upper lip was seen as a very British virtue, epitomised by the royal family’s stoic attitude amid crises ranging from the 1936 abdication of King Edward VIII to the death of Princess Diana in 1997.

Harry’s decision to reveal he had sought counselling in his late twenties to help deal with his grief for Diana and had experienced two years of “total chaos” as he tackled repressed emotions was a striking departure from past royal attitudes.

“We will all go through tough times in our lives, but men especially feel the need to pretend that everything is OK, and that admitting this to their friends will make them appear weak,” Harry told Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM), a charity dedicated to preventing male suicide, in a joint interview with William.

“I can assure you this is actually a sign of strength.”

“There may be a time and a place for the ‘stiff upper lip’, but not at the expense of your health,” Prince William told CALM.

The British phrase “stiff upper lip” describes an ability to keep emotions under control whatever the circumstances.

Suicide is the biggest killer of men under 45 in Britain, and Prince William said seeing the impact of suicide through his work as a an air ambulance helicopter pilot had been a “tipping point” in his decision to campaign on mental health issues. AGENCIES