It’s business as usual for the Prince of Wales as he visits a London building site to discuss mental health in the construction industry – while Harry and Meghan party at Invictus Games

While the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have reunited at the Invictus Games in Germany – enjoying a rock star welcome – the Prince of Wales continued with his charity work in West London. 

Prince William, 41, headed to a building site in the capital on Wednesday morning to discuss the mental health of the UK’s construction workers and heard some shocking statistics about the industry, including that it has one of the highest suicide rates of any industry in the country. 

Wearing a light tweed blazer with a blue shirt, navy chinos and brown suede brogues, the Prince met with industry workers to discuss the high suicide rate amongst labourers – three times the national average and the equivalent of two men losing their lives each working day.

During his visit, William heard about some of the mental health challenges faced by construction workers, and discussed suicide prevention with the charity Mates in Mind. 

Later, he donned full protective gear – including a hi-vis jacket, white hard hat and protective eyewear as he took a short tour of the site.  

In the week which marked World Suicide Prevention Day, William appeared visibly affected as he heard suicide rates in the industry are more than three times higher than the national average, with 507 construction workers taking their own lives in 2021. That equates to an average of around two a day. 

The prince, who along with his wife has put mental health at the forefront of his public work, said he wanted to help people understand that their emotional wellbeing is as important as their physical health.

And he said it was crucial to ensure that problems can be identified at the earliest possible stage, before they turn into a ‘crisis’.

‘We want to help empower people to speak about their problems in a safe space and ensure mental health is embedded in everything we do,’ the prince said.

‘It’s important everyone has the ability to be open.’

William was visiting a construction project in West London, run by Mace which has placed a strong emphasis on implanting proactive prevention strategies with the help of leading mental health charity, Mates in Mind.

William donned a hard hat, visibility jacket and protective glasses as he toured the vast site.

‘I imagine construction is quite a male dominated environment, that’s a hard to reach group,’ he said.

He was told that a range of issues contribute to the shocking statistics regarding the construction industry include high pressure deadlines, working away from home, the traditional ‘macho’ work culture where men do not talk about their feelings and concern over temporary employment contracts.

William quizzed some of the staff about their mental health during their lunch break, speaking to a group of carpenters and a supervisor in their on-site canteen.

He asked a group of men if they ‘talk about mental health?’ adding ‘mental fitness, is that something you relate to?’.

Supervisor Edward Xhafa, 43 said after speaking to the prince: ‘Everywhere you look there is pressure but we talk about it a lot.

‘We look after each other, we communicate with each other and there are sessions here every week where you’re able to talk through everything.’

On the roof of the building, the royal spoke to several other members of staff, as well as representatives from Mates in Mind, just days after World Suicide Prevention Day.

‘What’s worked for you? How have you managed of come out of this experience?’ he asked one young man.

Talking of his own experiences working as an air ambulance pilot, William said it was crucial that people feel they ‘don’t have to carry the trauma’ with them and can get help.

When they do, he said ‘people start to realise you don’t have to live with this for 20 years in your head’.

Alex Lovett, a health, safety and well-being manager working for Mace, praised the prince for coming down to learn more about the problems his industry has.

‘We are really lucky that that people here get this and understand it. The culture of the place has changed,’ he said.

‘We are probably the biggest self-employed sector, which comes with its own pressures, it’s a harsh working environment in terms of the weather, physicality, and long hours – ten hours a day – and traditionally has had a very masculine culture where people don’t talk about things.

‘I have worked on a site when a colleague sadly came in for work as normal at 7.30 and then a couple of hours later took his own life in a toilet. There had been no sign whatsoever [that he was distressed].

‘I know I look about like 50 per cent of the people in construction – a bald, white man – but I have gone through the cycle and am happy to talk about it. We have open conversations, we look at our facilities on new projects. We want people to bring their whole selves to work and be happy about here. People are more willing to talks about things now but we still have a long way to go.’

Speaking of the prince he said: ‘The pressures of life now are different to 40 years ago. And he gets that. I was genuinely and pleasantly surprised at his understanding and empathy. He spoke about his own mental health issues working on the air ambulance. The experiences were there and it was only when he stepped out of it he realised the trauma was there. He really wants to make talking about this more normal.’

Jordan Smith, 32, director of SM5 Developments, added: ‘Unless we talk about it these statistics are not going to get better. We are promoting better health and wellbeing initiatives as a matter of course now. Men don’t talk, I don’t talk. We really are trying to change the culture and as business owners create an environment that people can be open in. It is a silent killer and thrives on people finding it hard to speak about it. We want to change that.

‘It’s great to see Prince William so involved in this issue. What I found amazing was his authenticity. He was so genuine. You can tell when you are talking to someone if they mean what they are saying or not. We have all seen his history and what he has been through on TV and it’s incredible to see what he is going now given all he has been through. And hopefully people seeing Prince William in that position, being that genuine, will help them moving forewords. The Royal Family represent us as a country and they are so great at doing this from their heart. Seeing him here makes me determined to keep doing what we are doing.’

Mates in Mind managing director Sara Meek said: ‘We work with organisations such as Mace to facilitate culture change and it was brilliant that the prince could come down here and hear about the pressures they face first-hand. People who work in the industry are dealing with so much every day that often mental health can just be squashed down.

‘It’s often a race to the bottom – the cheapest, the quickest – and that can come at a human cost. Work-related stress. The ones who have to deliver that suffer.

‘William’s visit resonated so much with us. He understands the importance of prevention, of speaking up early and of not waiting for somebody getting to a crisis point and hoping that a safety net will catch them. He understands that given the statistics, none of this is working. You can’t keep on fixing it then putting somebody back through the same process and hoping for a different result. ‘The prince is brilliant at shining a light on the issue and showing this can happen to anyone at any time and how important it is to seek early help and be open about it.’

Meanwhile, over in Dusseldorf, Meghan Markle was given a rapturous welcome at the Invictus Games as she made her first appearance at a sports event with Prince Harry.

Crowds leapt to their feet to cheer and applaud the Duchess of Sussex who seemed taken aback by the rapturous welcome and took her seat in the Merkur Spiel-Arena. 

Dressed casually in J Crew sweater, Staud shorts and Chanel flat pumps, the 42-year-old mother-of-two beamed with delight and waved to the crowd and punched her hands on the air, hugging supporters of the Australian team seated in her row.

Harry, who has been happily posing for dozens of selfies with fans, took a back seat this morning as most people in the crowd wanted to be photographed with Meghan.

Following her impromptu speech at an Invictus Games party for 1,600 people where she apologised for her late arrival at the competition yesterday, a buzz of excitement had gone around the games today that she would be making her debut appearance.

More than 2,000 schoolchildren were invited to the fourth day and had been talking excitedly about Meghan. The couple – whose two young children are back home in Montecito, California – watched a wheelchair match between Australia and Ukraine.

The couple were swamped by fans who wanted to have their photo taken with the them when the wheelchair basketball match ended.

Meghan bonded with Australian competitor Laura Reynell, 28, from New South Wales, who sat next to her as they talked about her beanie hat.

She said: ‘Meghan thought it was funny I was wearing the beanie and asked if I was cold. I told her I’m from Oz and always cold.’

Ms Reynell added that Meghan spoke about her two young children behind in California.

She said: ‘She was so nice and was talking about her kids. She said the kids are excited about Invictus but they are a bit too young to understand.’