‘Can I give you a hug?’: Prince William does his mother proud

Prince William got emotional as he spoke with victims of cyberbullying at Kensington Place on Wednesday and broke royal protocol once again to comfort someone in need.

William spoke with cyberbullying campaigners Lucy Alexander and Chloe Hine ahead of the launch of his new national Action Plan, created by The Royal Foundation’s Taskforce on the Prevention of Cyberbullying. 

The Action Plan is set to officially be announced on Thursday. 

The father-of-two appeared to get emotional as he heard stories about how cyberbullying changed Alexander and Hine’s lives.

Alexander lost her son Felix to suicide as a result of cyberbullying and wrote an article about it for the UK Telegraph, pledging her life to helping others who are suffering.

The family have set up The Felix Programme, which deals with bullying in schools, directly. 

Acting royal correspondent from Hello!, Tracy Schaverien shared a video of the chat to social media. 

Prince William hears about the suicide of this mother’s son as he joins forces with internet giants to tackle cyber bullying pic.twitter.com/UE90MvV9wN

— Tracy Schaverien (@TracySchaverien) November 15, 2017

“I sort of feel that Felix has given me a job to do and my job is to make sure that we try to help as many other people like him,” Alexander said.

Touched by her journey, The Duke asked Alexander to be one of the parents involved in informing the Taskforce.  

Hine, who is a member of the Youth Panel of the Taskforce, decided to become a campaigner after being a victim of online bullying herself.

“I was just in this group and if I was to say something or agreed with a comment that was made, that would then be twisted and then that would just go on and people turned against me,” she said. 

Hine explained how the horrible situation spiralled and led her to write a suicide note, which made her realise that life was worth living.

After hearing both stories, William asked, “Can I hug you both,” as he got up from his seat.

While thanking them for their courage the Prince said, “I only wish that neither of you had gone through what you’ve gone through.”

“I think it’s worth reminding everyone what the human tragedy of what we are talking about is – it’s not just companies and online stuff, it’s actually real. It’s real lives that get affected.”

Just like his mother, Diana, William seems more than happy away from royal tradition and offer comfort to those who need it. 

Over the years, he’s proven to have a have a natural way with people and a rare ability to empathise with those from all walks of life. 

The new Royals’ Cyberbullying action plan is expected to be another part to the Heads Together charity, which William co-founded with wife The Duchess of Cambridge and brother Prince Harry. 

Do you think people should be more aware on cyberbulling? What are your thoughts on this?