Kate Middleton says mental health work impacts parenting

Kate Middleton says mental health work impacts parenting

The Duchess of Cambridge has said her work on mental health has 'definitely' had an impact on how she brings up George and Charlotte as she made her first official appearance alongside Meghan Markle.

Kate, who is expecting her third child in April, told the audience at the Royal Foundation Forum in London she had 'learnt so much' from her work in parenting and early intervention in mental health.

She said: 'You can't help but reflect on your own life and it's definitely had an impact on how sort of I look at how I mother, how we work as a family and you know, how we hope to bring up our children.'

Kate and William have repeatedly raised the importance of tackling mental health issues over the last few years. 

Earlier this month, Kate encouraged children to be comfortable in their own skin as part of a campaign to safeguard children’s mental health.

In a recording for Children's Mental Health Week, she also said adults should help children by giving them the ‘emotional strength’ they need to thrive.

William, who opened today's event, discussed the importance of the Heads Together mental health campaign and his determination to 'change mindsets' over the issue

Meanwhile Kate - who wore a Seraphine dress - applauded Meghan as William said how 'delighted' he was for her to join them at the event.

Today is the first time the foursome have been pictured together since they attended a Christmas Day church service in Norfolk with the majority of the Royal Family.

Meghan took the opportunity to voice her support for the #MeToo and #TimesUp campaigns and said she wants to 'hit the ground running' after the wedding and support women's rights.

She said: 'I hear a lot of people speaking about girls' empowerment and women's' empowerment you will hear people saying they are helping women find their voices.

'I fundamentally disagree with that because women don't need to find their voices, they need to be empowered to use it and people need to be urged to listen.

'Right now with so many campaigns like #MeToo and #TimesUp there's no better time to continue to shine a light on women feeling empowered and people supporting them.'