Duchess of Cambridge To Guest Edit HuffPost UK To Promote Mental Health Causes
Her Royal Highness Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge (formerly Kate Middleton), is the latest high-profile individual to continue the trend of guest editing a popular blog in order to create buzz or to gain attention for a charitable cause. The Duchess will be the guest editor for The Huffington Post UK for one day in mid-February, according to an announcement to the press from Kensington Palace on Friday. One of the more recent causes that the Duchess has added to her philanthropic vision is the mental health of young children, and bringing attention to this cause — as well as disseminating information about it from experts — will be her objective when she picks up her editrix pen for the first time.
The Duchess of Cambridge will take on this project following similar efforts from First Lady Michelle Obama, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, Bono, and Stephen Colbert. These projects benefit publications through association with a famous name, and in the event that a charitable cause is highlighted, the publication also benefits from the positive PR that comes with jointly supporting it.
The Duchess and her husband, His Royal Highness Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, have focused on children’s issues as a strong aspect of their philanthropy, as well as addiction and other mental health issues. When they were married in April 2011, they chose 26 charities that would benefit from the Royal Wedding Charitable Gift Fund. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge raised over one million pounds for charities that largely targeted environmental conservation, support for the armed forces and their families, and children’s issues — particularly enrichment through the arts and through sports. The Duchess and her husband also made sure to choose non-profits that represented the Commonwealth as a whole, including charities based in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Kate Middleton, Duchess Of Cambridge, is joining HuffPost for a day. https://t.co/lvnIUipQWX pic.twitter.com/ds91609VGU
— HuffPost Ent (@HuffPostEnt) January 15, 2016
The smooth transition from the Duchess’s support for the causes that the Duke and Duchess chose for their wedding gift fund into more specific areas happened over time, as the Duchess of Cambridge fulfilled her expected role as a “full-time royal” by choosing specific organizations for which she would become a patron. In January 2012, she became patron of Action on Addiction, signaling the couple’s dedication to working for an end to stigma when it comes to mental health issues. In 2013, she announced a patronage for children’s mental health charity Place2Be and recorded a video for them supporting the United Kingdom’s very first Children’s Mental Health Week in February 2015. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge worked closely with the Duke’s younger brother, His Royal Highness Prince Harry of Wales, to create The Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, which takes all three senior royals’ specific patronages and organizes them into the categories of conservation, the armed forces, and young people.
“Dealing with mental health issues has been a major editorial focus for us, and I’m very excited to be working together on such an important project,” said Stephen Hull, The Huffington Post UK‘s editor-in-chief, in the Kensington Palace statement. A palace spokesperson continued, “The Duchess will be commissioning contributions from a number of leading figures in the mental health sector as well as from young people, parents, and teachers.” The Duchess of Cambridge has truly given a special privilege to the website’s team, as they will be visiting Kensington Palace by formal invitation on the day the Duchess is to make her contributions.
[Image courtesy of Sebástian Freire / CC 2.0]
