Prince William made a surprise trip to Belfast to discuss (what else) mental health

Prince William meets with Chiefs of the PSNI, Fire Service and Ambulance Service in Belfast

Prince William went on a “surprise trip” to Northern Ireland on Wednesday. The royals always have to make their trips a “surprise” whenever they’re traveling to Northern Ireland. Even decades after the Good Friday Agreement, the Windsors are still edgy about spending much time in Northern Ireland or allowing details of their trips to be published ahead of time. William went to Belfast for some events at the Police College and a local fire and rescue service. The topics were mental health, the pandemic and emergency services. William briefly wore a mask at one point, but for the most part, he just sat or stood six feet away from people for these conversations.

Since this was a surprise trip, there was not a media contingent on the ground to meet William. I’m assuming that’s why the details of the trip are the same in every outlet, and why the photos are the same too. Kensington Palace really approved all of the photos and sent them out with a press release, and most media outlets just published that sh-t as is. You can read People’s coverage here, if you’re so inclined (it put me to sleep).

I wasn’t going to cover this because A) it’s super-boring, B) it’s so boring that even Daily Mail readers didn’t care enough about it to make it a top-read and C) the entire trip was designed to remind people that William was an “air ambulance pilot” and that he says “mental health” a lot. But then I looked at the photos which – remember – the palace approved and authorized. The British media really ran the hot ginger prince out of the country, huh? When I first saw these pics yesterday, I was genuinely surprised by how much he suddenly resembles Prince Albert of Monaco, a man 24 years older than him. I’d also like to admit that I feel like I’ve aged 10 years in 2020 too. Sh-t, am I ageing this badly??

Prince William meets with Chiefs of the PSNI, Fire Service and Ambulance Service in Belfast

Prince William meets with Chiefs of the PSNI, Fire Service and Ambulance Service in Belfast

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

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111 Responses to “Prince William made a surprise trip to Belfast to discuss (what else) mental health”

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  1. Sofia says:

    He’s also turning into Uncle Ed. *sigh* He was so handsome. So, so handsome…

    • L84Tea says:

      It’s almost as if his face has grown too big for the back of his head. Maybe his hair was what kept all of that balanced. Oh well, RIP Will’s blonde locks.

      • Psyren says:

        “Maybe his hair was what kept all of that balanced. “

        Thank you. My day has been made 😂 😂😂

    • Talie says:

      I think he still has a good face – but he should’ve did something about his hair. Hopefully the rumors about Harry doing something about his are true. I hate to say it, but neither one can really do bald well.

      • Em says:

        It’s funny how you can’t see he’s Infact doing something to his hair. Can’t you see the little sprouts that weren’t there months ago? The rumors about Harry was to cover up William getting his hair done and the Desired effect was to elicit comments like yours, so when you see William with a head full of hair you’d say oh harry is already doing something like that so it’s fine. I really want to see Harry in a buzzcut now though.

      • Kalana says:

        @Em. He does have more hair! Those are not combover whisps. The sides also look higher to me but I would need to look at old photos to compare.

      • Phuggi says:

        I mean, frankly all he needs to do is just grow a beard. There’s a reason that bald + beard is such a good combo. But The Firm would never let him!

      • Feeshalori says:

        Who knows, if Willy pitches a fit and threatens to step out of the line of succession maybe they’ll let him grow that beard.

    • Feeshalori says:

      Edward was pretty handsome too when younger, but sadly he had also trodden down the inevitable path of declining Windsor looks as he aged.
      Edit: this comment was intended for Sofia above but wound up down here.

  2. Becks1 says:

    the original post on Twitter was hilarious because it was so tone-deaf. It was some sort of video (I think the kiddos call it “reels” but I don’t know how it works, twitter, FB and IG are enough for me, anything beyond that and I get confused, lol) and it was set to Harry Styles’ “watermelon sugar.” the comments were not positive, LOL. Lots of “this is the account of the future king, it should be more dignified” etc. Granted, the music choice WAS bizarre, but it was still funny to me because it showed that Will and Kate desperately DO want to be seen as fresh and cool and fun and up to date on the latest in social media etc, but that’s not what their fan base wants. They WANT them to be stodgy and boring and “regal.”

    They took the music off shortly thereafter, LMAO.

    Anyway, I am surprised that the Northern Ireland visits are still handled like this. Is there still that much of a security risk for a senior royal when visiting, or is just being overly cautious?

    • Faye says:

      I saw something on Twitter about the Good Friday accord may be in jeopardy because of Brexit, so security may still be an issue. Also, that song is about wa womans privates, so KP continues to show their ineptitude and why they took it down. lol

      Will was only attractive because of his hair so the decline since going bald isn’t surprising to me. Will only looks decent to me when his mouth is closed. Those horse teeth are his downfall for me.

      Yeah, I was harsh with his looks, but his behavior towards his brother just make me really not want to see his face.

      • Becks1 says:

        I saw that too but they always embargo their trips, not just this one, but I don’t really know that much about the current situation there.

        I also think when he was younger he seemed…..happier. He didn’t have that petulant look he so often has now (I imagine he thinks its his “great statesman” look).

      • mynameispearl says:

        Eh, we can be contentious enough. Its probably smart to embargo visits. Tensions are high at the moment as the UK are looking to break the legally binding Northern Ireland protocol (that they signed, and voted through parliament) within the withdrawal agreement.

      • Nic919 says:

        I don’t care about embargoed visits to Northern Ireland but Kate embargoes visits in England which makes no sense at all.

      • Becks1 says:

        @mynameispearl – I’m LOLing at “contentious enough.” like I said I really know very little about the current situation/feelings/etc so if there is a need to embargo the visits, I don’t have a problem with them doing so, I was just curious.

        @Nic – yeah, that’s the funny part. Kate does this all the time in England, lol.

    • ABritGuest says:

      No doubt the Cambridges were inspired by SussexRoyal where they had some music to some posts. But this Harry Styles song is kind of saucy & the whole thing seemed like an older dad attempt at being cool.

      It was hilarious how upset the royalists were for them not being ‘professional’ and coming across like ‘influencers’. Someone said what next- will they play WAP lol. It did bring home that the ‘young royals’ are fairly middle aged & it will be interesting how the royal family tries to appeal to younger crowds. Tik Tok next .

      • Zapp Brannigan says:

        Lol at WAP, presumably meaning White Ass Palaces

      • BayTampaBay says:

        “It was hilarious how upset the royalists were for them not being ‘professional’ and coming across like ‘influencers’. ”

        You mean the Twitterati Royalists actually got upset at something Karen & Kevin Keen did???? (roll eyes in over exaggerated fashion and clutch pearls for good measure)

      • sunny says:

        I wouldn’t quite call them young nor are they exactly middle aged. I mean they are still in their 30’s. It is just that they are stale, lack creativity, and lack the interest and passion that would convey youthfulness.

        Also, William is aging badly… which between his genes and the ugly parts of his soul, is not entirely a surprise.

      • Suze says:

        @Zapp – All I’m hearing now is, “There’s some Dukes in this house, there’s some dukes in this house…”

    • Tealie says:

      They’ve fucked themselves over and pigeon holed themselves. The young don’t like them because they see their racism smears and generally I’m more a Gallagh Terrien and Republican and don’t believe in divine rule, but if they loosen up and try and attract them they’ll alienate the fan base of over 50s and racists, they’ll been barren. But at the SAME time, The fan base will be dead and dying and a much smaller proportion by the time of the reign and when they really need support in 10 to 15 years their fan base will be be gone since 1/4 + of the population in the U.K. is over 50!

      I with them I would’ve played my game smarter.

    • Jay says:

      Yikes! Nobody ran that one by the social media manager, methinks. Not at all a bad song, but not on theme.

  3. RoyalBlue says:

    mmmm you said hot ginger prince. that’s all I’ve got.

  4. Dali says:

    To me he totally looks like Diana.

    • Tessa says:

      He looks more like Charles and has the Spencer shaped face.

      • Dali says:

        His nose, his mouth and teeth are 100% Diana. If you look at pics of the young Charles, i see harry overall. If Harry would shave his beard, you would see it moore. Harry is getting bald too so lets see in 3-4 years 😉

    • Flamingo says:

      I agree. His features are the masculine version of Diana’s. I’m really surprised he hasn’t gotten a hair transplant.

      • tolly says:

        This. Diana had a wide pouf of hair to balance out her long features. Wills’ head looks smaller every time he appears in public.

    • Nyro says:

      He does. He was super handsome at 20. He looks like this now because he can’t carry weight well. It goes straight to his face. He’d look a lot fresher and younger if he dropped 15 pounds. And he’s someone who desperately needs hair. I see those whisps at his crown so maybe he’s doing something there. He just looks tired and old. Kate as well. They’re inheriting the looks they deserve.

      • windyriver says:

        His eyes are close set, though not as much as Charles, one reason extra weight especially in his cheeks isn’t that attractive. He also has a high forehead and longish face like Charles, although the shape of his lower face and chin is more Diana.

        Agree, he was definitely something at 20. Losing weight would help, but he’s one person who really needs a mop of hair to overall balance his features. And a personality transplant.

  5. KellyRyan says:

    He has zero interest, zero knowledge, zero experience. Prepared script is a no brainer and what works best for him.

    • Myra says:

      He does present as someone who has a lack of interest in what he is doing. There is something about him that screams boring. And the photos are like generic stock photos of ‘white man in suit sitting down’.

      • Royalwatcher says:

        The first photo is actually even worse – a contemptuous face. The pinch between his brows, nostril flare, and snarl of one side of his lip are unconscious contempt signs. I wonder what he was saying in that exact moment.

    • kelleybelle says:

      Anything Bill ‘n Karen have to say about mental health will always fall on deaf ears with me after they colluded with trying to destroy Harry and Meghan. He’s abhorrent. Mental health my ass. Go home, William.

    • Lizzie says:

      Where are all the trolls that were yelling THEY HAVE NO EXPERIENCE when Harry and Meghan’s Netflix deal was announced. I guess they stayed home waiting for the next sister-wife dress debut.

  6. Mabs A'Mabbin says:

    Who wants to listen to a penis talk about anything?

  7. Kendi says:

    I get that about 6ish years ago, William started this “let’s talk about mental health” conversation/project/thing. What are the deliverables? Are there any tangible results or projects he has actually spearheaded and created?
    This seems like he was given a topic/talking point that he has latched on to and has no intentions of doing anything besides “talking” about.
    Does he have any real, successful, tangible anything?

    • OriginalLala says:

      He and Kate never have any deliverables, they just spout platitudes and suck up resources.

      • Kendi says:

        Bingo! This explains why Meghan was such a thorn in the side. The fact is, she believed that the royal platform was actually supposed to deliver results (which she did).
        This clearly ran afoul of the smokescreen the other royals are supposed to create. The object is to LOOK like you are making a difference. Harry was successful because his projects were abroad. Meghan’s were right in the UK. It started raising questions and comparisons. Yikes!

      • Babsorig says:

        @Kendi, not all prince Harry’s projects are abroad. Invictus Games started in the UK and went global. The Endeavor Funds Award has always been UK based, its going global after this year award in April 2020. Sentebale is the only project that is Lesotho based.

    • Lemons says:

      Mental health is a topic that will never have any deliverables.
      You need actual action behind mental health like creating communities (Invictus Games, Hubb Community Cookbook, SMARTWorks capsule collection working towards helping communities of women). Discussions are fine. But they are like the worst slacktivists. Planting a garden isn’t helpful unless you are planting community gardens nationwide and making an actual impact.

      • Nyro says:

        Exactly. Something like a garden should be the launching pad for a bigger goal, not the goal itself. Look at Michelle Obama as First Lady. She planted a vegetable garden at the White House. She didn’t plant it for the sake of just having a garden. It was used to launch her school lunch and Let’s Move childhood obesity initiatives. Kate and William don’t think like that because they’re not smart and they’re lazy and unimaginative. Kate has met Michelle Obama several times. Kate is also sporty. She could have taken that playground elephant thing she has built and then started her own initiatives around children’s physical fitness. And if she had any kind of interpersonal and networking skills, she could have even gotten Michelle to do something with her. That royal spotlight and platform is just totally wasted on the Cambridges. A total waste. Look at all Meghan did in just two years. I know a self-motivated do-gooder like her had ideas to last for decades. She was excited to be able to work within that system and get they treated her like crap. The whole thing just posses me off. They didn’t deserve the Sussexes.

    • Nic919 says:

      He called his own brother mentally fragile when Harry publicly discussed his own mental health so William has zero credibility to speak on this issue. He is so jealous of his brother he sabotaged one of his alleged issues and undermined the entire “let’s talk about mental health” thing he pretends to believe in.

    • starryfish29 says:

      I’m pretty sure that the tangible result is him saying the phrase ‘mental health’ a lot. What more do you want?

    • February-Pisces says:

      It’s like what was the point of Kate’s survey? The questions were like ‘how important is your child’s mental health? No one is gonna answer ‘not that important’. It went no where because the results weren’t even being used for anything, so what was the actual point? All it was doing is wasting resources which could have been spent elsewhere, just to promote Kate. And who actually promotes a survey, you carry out a survey, gather all your results and information from it and then use it to take action like launchIng a product or service. You don’t promote the survey. It’s like a few weeks ago when Kate ‘sent an email’ and KP actually posted a screen grab of it, lol. She actually was promoting the fact she sent and email???

      Her and williams mental health initiatives are a soft way for them to pretend they are actually doing something, but without having to do anything at all. They can’t really fail or offend anyone with their mental health “work”, it’s just all smoke and mirrors. But William constantly going on about it is now getting tiring, he needs to change the record.

      It’s a shame Willie doesn’t care about his brothers mental health. The man who used his mouthpieces to call harry ‘fragile’.

    • Tealie says:

      Aren’t any it’s just something for him to do to appear like he’s doing work and also to same sort of ‘woke’ and ground breaking. I doubt he really cares nor has ever had passion for mental health of philanthropy like his brother.

    • Chaine says:

      The deliverables: a real life example of the impact of toxic family members on mental health.

    • 809 Matriarch says:

      Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Zero.

  8. RoyalBlue says:

    she is such a hypocrite.

  9. tee says:

    people can say whatever about kate, but she makes william 10x more compelling. they’re still a bore together, but without her he is truly unremarkable.

  10. Sarah says:

    ‘Younger royals’ are heading towards 40 and it shows. Nothing wrong with getting older but they and their advisors don’t seem to be able to figure out what they’re trying to do. Is it appeal to the middle aged and older rock solid fan base? I don’t think you need to be that savvy of social media to give them what they want. Or are they trying to bring younger people into the fold? If so good luck with that, it’s a completely different generation and these people and their team just don’t speak that language.

    Also there’s something about the shape of his face and his expressions these days, it’s thickening and a lifetime of petulance shows. I can absolutely see Albert of Monaco too!

    • February-Pisces says:

      William using a harry styles song on insta is like when your dad embarrassingly tries to be cool. It’s was more cringe than anything and that’s not just because the song was about going down on a girl.

      But Willie is desperate to have harry and meghans fanbase, it’s the young, liberal, millennials that decide what’s cool. Willie and Kate are stuck with the baby boomers, old grandmas and racists for their fanbase. That’s why willie got rejected by Netflix and whilst Harry was handed £150million on a platter.

  11. Harper says:

    Balding man in his blue suit/shirt/tie uniform stands around a municipal building making “I’m just pretending to be interested in you” faces. Snore is right!

  12. Noki says:

    Him and Kate always purse their lips like that,is it that plum in mouth thing.

  13. equality says:

    Where are all the “how did he get there?” comments like there would be with Harry? Did he fly private?

  14. Mariane says:

    lol you’re spot on with the Albert comparison. They also have the same controlling personality.

    The whole thing was so awkward to watch, especially the strangeness of wearing masks in a car but not with strangers in close proximity! I bet boris asked him for a favour to smooth things after its reported that he’s now on track for no deal which affects NI (no goodfriday agreement) thinking he had some kind of influence🤦‍♀️
    And the song they picked…😂This pathetic loser has surrounded himself with tory yes men/women who are out of touch with the rest of the public so no wonder they had no idea about that song’s meaning

  15. Marjorie says:

    Again, where’s Waity?

  16. Merricat says:

    The only hope here is that William will just go ahead and shave his head. He’s as good as bald as it is, and it would look a lot less pathetic than that comb-over.

    • Mel M says:

      I know this is all so superficial but whatever, I can’t comment on another unhinged Cheeto thread. I just can’t understand why he didn’t do anything about it when it first started years ago. He has gobs of money right? And no one would’ve been the wiser had he started it right away. At this point though yes, he needs to do something other than what he’s doing because it ages him incredibly, the horseshoe/George Constanta look. He’s just lucky his hair is lighter so it’s not so contrasting. Like someone said above his face looks too wide compared to his head now and maybe the hair was hiding that fact before and the fact that he’s not as slim I’m sure. My hubs has the receding thing going on and it started years ago but he’s not nearly as bad as Bill even though he’s a couple of years older than him, but he would love to be able to afford something just to stop it from getting any worse. Alas we are plebs and that’s the last thing on our list right now.

      And Kaiser, I agree I feel like I’ve aged 50 years in 2020 but William hasn’t had to drastically change his lifestyle like the rest of us or worry about everything we’ve had to. I really don’t see him being under any more stress then normal. He still has Waity taking care of the kids with the nanny, housekeepers, steady income, he doesn’t need to worry about racial inequalities right? And he doesn’t think twice about the damage being done to his country under a wanna be white supremacist dictator so I don’t give him a pass for that at all.

      • Tealie says:

        I don’t get it either! why doesn’t he just get a bloody hair transplant, if you’ve got one 10 years ago when it was just starting people wouldn’t have even noticed. Harry better get one now that he’s over in America because I don’t wanna ever see him come back with a bald head lmao!

    • Chaine says:

      My guess: he has wealth and power beyond our wildest dreams, and probably women falling all over themselves to get in on just a hint of that D, so he feels no need to improve his looks.

      • Max says:

        I agree. Also men who get hair transplants also take finasteride, which can cause birth defects.

      • Tealie says:

        He didn’t have girls falling over him when he was in university, well aristo girls anyway. Maybe the common girls would, but I don’t think he’d interact with them anyway.

  17. S808 says:

    All these discussions that go nowhere…..at least he’s not a bar or with a football team this time?

  18. The Hench says:

    I can see in those photos that he is carefully explaining his Air Ambulance pilot job. “You go down diddly down…and then up diddly up up and then you go home for the rest of the month. And, er mental health something something.”

    Zzzzzz.

  19. JT says:

    Will and Kate are so irrelevant Cambridge fans have been harassing the Sussex squad to post about them on their instagram. A prominent H&M instagram had to make a post stating they will not post about “Baldy the Cheater, his dull donkey smile wife, or Ford Fiesta.” W&K fans also asked why the squad don’t promote the Cambridge’s charities. Even their fans know Won’t and Can’t need help.

    • Becks1 says:

      Why……..why would Sussex fans promote the Cambridge’s charities? Good lord.

      • JT says:

        Exactly. There was a little bit of a scuffle because Cambridge fans were saying that W&K are still family. Sussex fans said I’ll wait until they treat H&M like family. Someone here said Cambridge fans don’t actually like W&K, they just have H&M more and I’m starting to believe that.

    • C-Shell says:

      Wow. Camstans really cannot read the room. The Sussex Squad raises SO MUCH MONEY for the Sussex causes, but Willnot and Cannot have no causes to speak of, and can’t be bothered to raise funds for the ones they have attached their names to, whereas Harry and Meghan actively reach out, promote and even kick in money to the many, many initiatives they support. The differences are stark.

      ETA — Omid Scobie got hit up on Twitter to cover one of Sophie’s events “since he’s a royal reporter,” and his response was pure gold: (paraphrasing) “I work for US outlets and there’s no interest in Sophie in the US. Have you asked all the other royal reporters *who didn’t cover the event* the same question?”

    • Kalana says:

      The Cambridge stans have tried raising money but there’s infighting and there have been scams. These are Twitter posters and Facebook groups that are really about hating the Sussexes. Of course these people proved to be untrustworthy. They’re just clout chasers, not actual Kate or William fans

      • Nic919 says:

        More than half the Camb stans are just in it for the racism and the rest are paid bots. They aren’t going to raise much money because people who seriously believe in the concept of rank and “betters” also tend to believe that poor people deserve it and should just work harder.

      • Tealie says:

        Oh shut up remember the first one they did someone stole all their money! 🤣🤣🤣 it’s what they deserve!

  20. Traci says:

    The days of the cute Prince Wills are GONE.

  21. Amy Bee says:

    I bet William pissed off this morning that his visit to Belfast didn’t get much attention. I saw a lot of Cambridge fans angry about the addition of the Harry Styles song on the video of the visit. But let’s get some things straight, that song doesn’t get added without the approval of William and this is what he wanted when hired Harry and Meghan’s social media manager. I have a feeling Watermelon sugar is one of William’s favourite songs. I would agree with the Cambridge fans that copying Sussex Royal doesn’t work, William and Kate is just too staid and boring to have a cool IG.

  22. L4frimaire says:

    This guy really needs lip balm.

  23. What eating you says:

    He looks like a bloated version of prince Edward, lay off the booze and wilileaks!

  24. LaurieLee says:

    For some reason, married men who don’t wear a wedding ring (does he have one?) really bug me. I see it as a sign of respect for their wives, and when they don’t do it they better have a good reason. Obviously everyone in the UK knows he is married, but it is a nice gesture and he should have started. Glad to see Harry wears his.

    • bamaborn says:

      Well, he’s the only person I know who actually married his stalker. So, a wedding band may have been asking a bit too much.

    • GuestWho says:

      He’s never had a wedding ring.

    • Tealie says:

      Nice gesture sure, but when you never really wanted nor planned to be committed to your wife anyway what’s the difference. Harry wears a ring because he respects Meghan and LOVES showing his love for her. William doesn’t wear a ring because he does not and doesn’t care about his wife enough to afford her the nice gesture, because they said the same with PDA, we all know Kate wants it.

  25. Mina_Esq says:

    His jawline looks swollen or something. His eyes look tired. He is not aging well. He looked a lot more like Diana in his teen years – had that shy look. Now you can tell he is a bit of a d**k.

  26. MA says:

    It’s a real Picture of Dorian Gray situation.

  27. Vanessa says:

    I Honestly Don’t Think William or Kate give a damn about mental Health These are the same people who helped bullied harassed dehumanize Meghan and Harry. William doesn’t care about the emotional well-being of his own brother William and Kate worked with the press to help destroy Harry happiness and Marriage neither one of them care about the tolled the emotional abuse and mental abuses their actions of lying and manipulative helping the press attack Meghan throughout her pregnancy took on Harry and Meghan . For William to sit their with his smug ugly racist bully face and acted like he cares about the mental health of others is truly disgusting William and Kate have no remorse for the way the treated Meghan and Harry and people wanted to called Meghan a psychopath.

  28. Digital Unicorn says:

    That header photo made me LOL – its his ‘look am so interested but really constipated face’. Top CEO has one just like it.

  29. David says:

    September 10 is World Suicide Prevention Day.

  30. Queen Meghan's Hand says:

    I love that Kaiser just wrote this post to throw shade at Wills’ egghead and Donnie-Darko-Bunny-esque face.

  31. Lucylee says:

    He is not aging well.

  32. Lizzie says:

    Can anyone explaine what is missing from front line workers mental healthcare? I read the People article and there is bit about looking out for the mental health of front line workers. This sounds like a great thing but are they saying mental healthcare is not available or should be more available or just watch out for your coworkers cause it’s pretty stressful?

    • Tealie says:

      I’m not sure I haven’t read it but I would assume that they believe that they should get therapy first and get it as part of their contracts because of their stressful jobs

  33. Maevo says:

    I see William’s transition of fully becoming an Easter Island head statue continues apace

  34. CC says:

    Have you noticed they are going after Charles now. Interesting

  35. MargaritasForBreakfast says:

    God, he is soooo physically tense and contracted within himself that he looks folded up like a baby alien. Will is one of those little animals that folds up into a ball for protection.