Prince William has praised a mother and a teenager for sharing their stories to raise awareness about cyberbullying.
The royal, 35, said Lucy Alexander and Chloe Hine were ‘brave’ for explaining how online abuse had impacted their lives, after inviting them to Kensington Palace to discuss the issue.
Mother Lucy described how her son Felix was affected by cyberbullying before taking his own life aged 17, while Chloe said she attempted suicide aged 13 after online attacks.
The moving video was released on Wednesday as the Duke of Cambridge prepares to unveil an action plan to prevent cyberbullying, after putting together a taskforce to look at the issue.
Prince William has praised two anti-bullying campaigners after they shared their experiences of how cyber abuse has affected their lives
In the clip, William can be seen listening intently as mother Lucy describes how her son Felix was affected by cyberbullying before going on to take his own life.
‘Social media was his life. His whole world resolved around it. It was the way everyone communicated, and if you weren’t on it you were isolated,’ she explained.
‘If he was invited to a party, someone would text saying “You don’t want to invite him, Everyone hates him”.’
‘And all he saw was negative. He saw himself as stupid and ugly. It just ate away at him inside, I think, but I just no idea about the depth of his despair’.
The royal, 35, described Lucy Alexander and Chloe Hine as ‘brave’ for speaking so honestly about the issue
Chloe described how she attempted suicide aged 13 after being attacked online
Chloe, who also contributed to the Royal Foundation’s Taskforce on the Prevention of Cyberbullying, described how she attempted to take her own life aged 13 after being attacked online.
‘I was in this group and if I was to say something that agreed with a comment someone else would make that would then be twisted and it would go on and then people would just turn against me.
‘They were like “Oh she said this one thing that one time so let’s all hate her for that” and it spiralled out of control from there really.’
She continued: ‘I started to self-harm as a way to cope, to make me feel better, and then I decided that I couldn’t take this anymore and I tried to end my life.’
Lucy described how her son Felix (pictured) was affected by cyberbullying before taking his own life aged 17
After hearing their stories, William thanked the pair for speaking to him, describing them both as ‘brave’.
‘It is so brave of you both to speak so honestly about it. I know it can’t have been easy, but I can’t thank you enough,’ he said.
‘I only wish that neither of you had gone through what you’ve gone through.’
He continued: ‘I think it is worth reminding everyone what the human tragedy of what we are talking about here. It isn’t just about companies and about online stuff, it’s actually real lives that get affected.
In the video, William spoke about the ‘human tragedy’ caused by cyber bullying
It comes as he prepares to unveil an action plan to tackle cyber bullying on Thursday
‘And the consequences, that’s the big thing, the consequences of what happens if things aren’t kept in check in terms of what we say and what we do, and we are still responsible for our actions online.
‘This anonymity, as you’re saying, is really, really dangerous.’
William has brought together the world’s biggest internet firms, children’s charities and parents, to work alongside the panel of young people to find ways to tackle cyberbullying.
The results of the taskforce set up by the royal and chaired by tech entrepreneur Brent Hoberman is set to be unveiled tomorrow.
For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details.