Princess Kate made a touching statement with a pair of earrings she wore on World Mental Health Day as she and Prince William hosted the Royal Foundation event, Exploring our Emotional Worlds.
Donning a yellow jacket with a plain black top and black trousers, the Princess of Wales accessorized the outfit with jewelry gifted to her by Sarah Renton, a Maidenhead Rugby Club coach whose daughter — Isobelle Phipps, 17 — died by suicide earlier this year.
Dubbed "Issy Star," the gold-plated star-shaped earrings were designed by Phipps' cousin and owner of EarSass, Sophie McGown, with proceeds from the purchase of the jewelry going to the mental health charity, Brave Minds.
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The earrings were first given to Kate in June, when the princess participated in some team training at the Maidenhead Rugby Club as part of her Shaping Us initiative. There, she met with Renton, who shared that the memento was designed in memory of her daughter, who played for the club since she was four years old before rising to country level for England in touch rugby for the under 18s.
At the time, Renton proudly spoke to Kate about her daughter and how the club and the "rugby family" had been a huge support for her. And she praised the princess's own work on mental health. "She was just really empathetic — she gave me a hug," Renton said of Kate.
The earrings were a fitting tribute as Kate and William took part in a forum for young people in Birmingham, alongside BBC Radio 1 and charity The Mix.
Soon after arriving at Birmingham's Factory Works center, the couple participated in some workshops, with Kate and others taking turns to describe a feeling from an emotion wheel while others around the table had to guess what they were explaining.
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Later, Kate took to the podium, where she made a speech urging everyone to come together to "build a brighter, more resilient future."
She also told the crowd, "Today, more people feel empowered to talk about their mental health than ever before. This is a major step forward. William and I continue to be inspired to see young people, like you all here today, leading this charge – being particularly brave in having some of those conversations yourselves. As a generation, you value and talk more about your mental health than any before you – something we truly admire and applaud."
Exploring our Emotional Worlds, which brought together 100 young delegates to take part in workshops with the royal couple focusing on emotions, relationships and community action, kicked off a series of outings that the royal couple will take part in this week — including one with university students and emergency responders and another one that will highlight the interaction between mental health and sports.
“Through this forum, the Prince and Princess wanted to bring young people together to start a conversation about how they manage their emotions and how they can be supported to build their resilience and protective factors such as healthy relationships which make it easier to navigate bumps in the road as they go through life,” their office at Kensington Palace said of Tuesday's event.
Additionally, the royals also released the results of their mental health survey, which finds most young people fear for their friends. Conducted through the Royal Foundation, the survey of 3,000 young people found that the majority of them are struggling with various mental health issues.
William and Kate's forum also took place the same day as Meghan Markle and Prince Harry returned to New York City for their Archewell Foundation's first-ever in-person event, The Archewell Foundation Parents’ Summit: Mental Wellness in a Digital Age, which aims to give voice to families who are passionate about building a safer online world for children and teens.
 | Earsass 'Issy' Star Earrings for Brave Mind |
Kate was gifted these 18K gold-plated star-shaped hoops during her June 2023 visit to Maidenhead Rugby Club. Coach Sarah Renton presented them to her in memory of her late daughter, Issy, who tragically took her own life earlier that year.
Earsass pledges to donate £5 to the Brave Mind charity from every pair sold.
