The Prince of Wales said it is important to break down any ‘taboos and stigmas around mental health’ as he met young farmers to discuss rural isolation and loneliness.
William, 42, was visiting a farm where he took part in a roundtable event hosted by the Farm Safety Foundation, a charity working to address attitudes and behaviours to farm safety and poor mental health in future farmers.
During the event on Thursday, at East Scryne Farm near Carnoustie in Angus, he met young farmers from the local area who are part of the Scottish Association of Young Farmers Clubs.
The prince, who is known as the Duke of Rothesay in Scotland, discussed issues such as what sort of support is available and the impact of social media in helping them stay connected with others.
He told them: ‘I love the countryside and I love farming as well. And I am conscious that it’s an area that needs maybe a little bit of support and understanding that there is access and support out there for young farmers, as well as making sure we are breaking down any taboos and stigmas around mental health.
‘Because I think in the farming world it’s maybe not talked about as much as in other sectors – and yet we know it exists.
‘So I particularly wanted to hear a little bit today about how all of you felt and hear it from the horse’s mouth whether we’re getting better at talking about it, whether you feel the support is out there, what your recollections and feelings are about rural isolation and mental health.’
Viki Johnston, who farms with her family on the Glamis Castle estate and also works on a farm near Forfar, said it was good that the prince is taking an interest.
The Prince of Wales has arrived in Scotland to highlight two community-led organisations helping to tackle rural isolation and loneliness
She said: ‘He was really enthusiastic about young farmers and what we are doing as an association, and he seem really knowledgeable about the struggles we face.’
The 25-year-old said the Scottish Association of Young Farmers Clubs offers a great support network as farming can be isolating, with farmers sometimes spending up to 16 hours a day working alone.
Alistair McCarthy, 23, who farms near Glamis, said: ‘It was really nice to speak to the prince. He showed a great interest in farming and young people and it was really positive to see there is support from the royal family.’
The visit aimed to highlight William’s commitment to supporting those in farming communities.
Stephanie Berkeley, manager of the Farm Safety Foundation (also known as Yellow Wellies), said the charity is a small organisation and that it is wonderful to have the Prince take an interest.
She said: ‘The young farmers are so enthusiastic and hard working and they should be celebrated so it’s lovely to have someone like the Prince come and listen. He was very interested in everything that the young farmers wanted to talk about.’
During his visit to the strawberry farm, which is run by James and Kate Porter, William was also shown polytunnels that were damaged by Storm Eowyn last month.
The family have been growing strawberries there since the 1960s and sell to supermarkets including Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury’s, Morrison, Asda and Aldi.
Prince William, known as the Duke of Rothesay north of the border, first attended a roundtable about combating loneliness and rural isolation at East Scryne Farm in Carnoustie, Angus
The event was hosted by the Farm Safety Foundation (Yellow Wellies), a charity working to address attitudes and behaviours to farm safety and poor mental health in future farmers
Alongside William, young farmers from the local area who are part of the Scottish Association of Young Farmers Clubs attended the event to share their thoughts on the topic and discuss the different ways farmers going through challenging times can be supported
The group has been driving discussions around loneliness within farming for a number of years and in 2016 launched ‘Are Ewe Okay?’, an initiative aiming to break the stigma surrounding mental wellbeing for young farmers based in rural Scotland. Pictured centre, William at his engagement today
The prince also encountered two UV-powered robot vehicles which are used to kill off mildew spores in the polytunnels.
Mr Porter said: ‘It was great to have him here so we could talk about all the good stuff and the issues that we have as well. It was a very engaging conversation.’
In 2023, the Duchy of Cornwall and William launched a new mental health strategy for Duchy tenants designed to prioritise farmers’ mental health and de-stigmatise the issue within the sector.
After the roundtable, William visited the Carnoustie and Monifieth Men’s Shed in Carnoustie to hear how the organisation is helping people build a sense of community and learn new skills.
The group was founded in 2015 and is run by local volunteers who meet weekly to take part in a range of activities such as woodwork, crafting and gardening.
William’s outing today comes after a new book by royal expert and journalist Tom Quinn claimed Meghan Markle’s tactile manner made the heir to the British throne ‘uncomfortable’.
Both Meghan and Prince Harry have insisted that William and his wife, the Princess of Wales, found the Duchess of Sussex‘s love of hugging ‘jarring’.
Now, in an extract from Yes Ma’am: The Secret Life of Royal Servants, via The Times, Mr Quinn claimed that the Duchess’ ‘hugging and cheek-kissing fuelled gossip among the staff that Meghan was flirting with William’.
‘She was obviously not, but the tense atmosphere caused by all the touchy-feeliness (and the resultant gossip) deepened the rift between the brothers,’ claimed Mr Quinn.
William’s visit is intended to highlight his commitment to supporting those in farming communities
In 2023, the Duchy of Cornwall and William (pictured left) launched a new mental health strategy for Duchy tenants designed to prioritise farmers’ mental health and de-stigmatise the issue within the sector
The Prince of Wales, known as the Duke of Rothesay when in Scotland, during a visit to East Scryne Farm in Carnoustie, Angus
The Prince of Wales, known as the Duke of Rothesay when in Scotland, during a visit to East Scryne Farm in Carnoustie, Angus, where he met farmers during a roundtable
His book, published on February 18, offers a glimpse of the Royal Family from the staff members who have served them.
They recalled how Kate and William found Meghan ‘delightful’ when she first started dating Prince Harry. However, ‘tensions’ apparently developed due to the Duchess’ ‘warm, friendly, hug-everyone approach’.
She would allegedly hug her brother-in-law, for instance, ‘virtually every time’ they saw one another.
‘Kate, William and Charles tended to flinch when she moved in for a hug. Meghan was understandably hurt, as everyone apparently hugs everyone in California,’ wrote the author.
In their Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan, the Suits star, 43, said she did not know the Royal Family’s ‘formality’ carries through behind closed doors and that she is a ‘hugger’ – which she did not realise was ‘jarring for some Brits’.
She said: ‘Even when Will and Kate came over and I was meeting her for the first time I remember I was in ripped jeans, I was barefoot.
‘Like I was a hugger, I have always been a hugger I didn’t realise that is really jarring for a lot of Brits.’
‘I started to understand that the formality on the outside carried through on the inside, that there is a forward facing way of being and then you close the door and think ‘OK we can relax now’. But that formality carries over on both sides and that was surprising to me.’
Both Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have insisted that Prince William and his wife, the Princess of Wales, found the Duchess of Sussex ‘s love of hugging ‘jarring’. Pictured, Prince William and Meghan Markle in April 2018 in London
Harry also recalled the apparently awkward first meeting between his now wife and his brother and sister-in-law in his bombshell memoir Spare.
He claimed William ‘recoiled’ from Meghan’s hug and described the moment he introduced his sibling to his then girlfriend as a ‘classic collision of cultures’.
The meeting took place in late 2016 at the Prince and Princess of Wales’s Kensington Palace apartment, shortly before Harry and William went on a shooting trip.
The Duke of Sussex explains how Meghan had already met Princess Eugenie, her then-boyfriend Jack Brooksbank, the Duchess of York, Prince Andrew and the Queen.
Describing the short walk from Harry and Meghan’s home Nottingham Cottage to Apartment 1A, the Duke admitted that he was more nervous for his girlfriend to meet William than anyone else.
When his brother answered the door, Harry says William was a ‘bit dressed up’ in smart trousers and a shirt.
He wrote: ‘I introduced Meg, who leaned in and gave him a hug, which completely freaked him out. He recoiled.’
Giving some context to the awkward encounter, Prince Harry said his brother wouldn’t usually hug someone he didn’t know.
In contrast, Harry explained how this was just Meghan’s way of greeting strangers.
He continued: ‘Maybe Willy expected Meg to curtsey? It would have been protocol when meeting a member of the Royal Family for the first time, but she didn’t know and I didn’t tell her.’
Elsewhere in the book, Prince Harry recounts having to remind the then Suits actress that she would need to curtsey for the Queen when they first met at Windsor Castle in 2016.
However, the father-of-two didn’t feel the need for her to do that when meeting William because he ‘loved Suits’.
After ‘exchanging a few warm words’ in the doorway, the Prince of Wales invited the couple into the flat – prompting Kate and William’s black cocker spaniel Lupo to start barking.
When the couple asked after Kate, William told them that she was out with their children George and Charlotte.
Following the brief meeting, Meghan returned to spend her first night alone in Nottingham Cottage while the brothers embarked on their shooting trip.
William and Harry have barely spoken to each other since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex quit their royal duties and left the UK for the US, with their feud having been exacerbated by the publication of Spare.
But the father-of-two reportedly reached out to his older brother after his wife Kate’s shock cancer diagnosis last year.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were understood to have made contact with the Prince and Princess of Wales ‘privately’.
Harry and his brother were then seen together for the first time in two years in August 2024, after both attending the funeral for their uncle Robert Fellowes. However, witnesses said they didn’t see the warring brothers speak.
Reports at the time claimed Harry made a discreet dash to Britain to attend the service for the 82-year-old who was their mother Princess Diana’s brother-in-law.
