Lady Gaga, Prince William, his brother, Prince Harry, and all the royal family, have had very busy schedules this week. Sunday, Gaga left fans breathless from her 90 minute set at Coachella, and packed her surprise of a new song smack in the middle. Monday, Prince Harry made public the “chaos” that ravaged him mentally and emotionally after stuffing 20 years of grief following the death of his mother, Princess Diana. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been strong supporters of mental health campaigns, such as the Heads Together effort in 2016.
There is always time for a talk between friends, and especially one that makes it clear that there is no shame in seeking help when it’s too hard to cope. Prince William and Lady Gaga had some simple, honest, “coffee talk” that will make a difference to millions.
Keeping quiet is the killer
It was just a friendly FaceTime call, and the timing couldn't have been better for sharing it on Tuesday, April 18, for this year's Heads Together start. It may have been a plan from the start between the pair that Lady Gaga’s new song, out Tuesday, April 18, too, is “The Cure,” and one of the lyrics is “If you say you're OK, I'm gonna heal you anyway.” Countless millions suffer in silence with mental health issues from depression and PTSD to the most severe traumas, and slough off their need with an “I'm OK” or no words at all, when silence is the worst enemy of healing.
Prince Harry put it very bluntly that he had talked out his feelings with a “shrink” “more than a couple of times” and felt good enough to dub the outcome as “great.” Prince William was key in urging his younger brother to talk to professionals and stressed the significance of talking to someone, period.
“Just having a conversation with a friend or family member can make such a difference” he said from his study.
Lady Gaga from her kitchen and Prince William from Kensington Palace made the same point of being brave enough just to speak, as they were doing. It's not just that these are respected high-profile people with an imprint on the world. They are young people of this generation, and they have experienced that the younger the healing begins, the more whole and happy the rest of life can be.
Letting fear go
Anyone who sees Prince William on his past duty as a rescue pilot, or Prince Harry tackling the same challenging courses that chosen athletes do during his Invictus Games might guess that fear is somehow coached out of royal consciousness, but the stigma sadly still attached to mental issues scares many people away from walking through any doors of assistance. Lady Gaga initiated her Born This Way Foundation as an outreach springing from her sexual assault at age 19, that left her with PTSD. She has been a constant and staunch advocate for victims from the stage and her studio. She describes the overhanging sense of guilt, when a person “should be so happy” and instead, feelings of “so sad, and so tired” and so shaken with anxiety steal life away.
The partnership between Lady Gaga and Prince William was launched from an open letter that the singer-songwriter shared through her foundation, and her meeting with Prince Harry some years back was covered in the press. The three have joined forces on a much deeper level now.
They were on different points of the globe and different sides of a screen, but Lady Gaga and Prince William were one in erasing the shame of “something wrong” in seeking help for needs of the mind and emotions just as readily as for the body, and that is harmony so needed. A meeting in person is planned for October in the UK.
