Harry arrived in Northern Ireland for his first official visit to the country to meet peace-building charity, Co-operation Ireland, which has been running for almost 40 years
Prince Harry has urged an end to the stigma around mental health and is campaigning for change from the ‘bad habits’ of the previous generation.
The 32-year-old said the older generation relying on the stiff upper lip means Britons bottle up mental health problems.
He was inspired and uplifted after meeting young people working to improve support and prevent suicide in Northern Ireland.
The prince met teenagers, aged 15 to 17, from the Northern Ireland National Citizen Service, whose motto is ‘Say yes’, during a visit to the MAC arts centre in Belfast city centre.
He added: ‘The older generation have had it one way and handed whatever you want to call it, the bad habits, down to all of us, as the younger generation.
‘What we have been trying to do is remove the stigma around mental health, to encourage people to have a conversation.
‘It is easy to bury your head in the sand and not do anything about it, but much more inspiring and uplifting to go to a group like this with like-minded people.
‘When you are together like this, you have an opportunity to start the change, to have an influence.’
Harry revealed in an interview with the Daily Telegraph he spent nearly 20 years ‘not thinking’ about his mother Diana, Princess of Wales’s death and eventually got help after two years of ‘total chaos’.
Earlier on Thursday, the prince put an ambulance worker in a spin after he used a harness to demonstrate some emergency equipment during the opening of a new £5million ambulance centre in Ballymena, Co Antrim.
Harry quipped ‘I am all right down here’ and twirled him around as he hung by cables from the ceiling during a demonstration.
During his visit, Harry spoke with young people about empowerment, about standing up and doing something for peace-building.
It’s Harry-mania! The 32-year-old’s trip to the Emerald Isle comes just days after his girlfriend Meghan Markle spoke publicly about their romance in a tell-all Vanity Fair interview
Popular in Ireland: Dozens of female fans gathered to catch a glimpse of Prince Harry after he touched down in Northern Ireland for his first official visit to the country
The royal family have a history of working for reconciliation during trips across the Irish Sea and the prince’s humanity while meeting community groups from nationalist and unionist backgrounds across the island was outstanding, his hosts said.
Co-operation Ireland, which organised the meeting, is a charity which has worked for almost 40 years to build a shared and cohesive society within Northern Ireland and across the Irish border.
Its chief executive Peter Sheridan said: ‘Today was about reaching to the next generation, to the next generation of the royal family, the next generation of young people across this island, whatever background they come from.’
Hundreds of fans gathered in Belfast’s St Anne’s Square in a bid to catch a glimpse of Harry on Thursday, with some demanding photos and selfies with the redheaded royal
On an action-packed day for the prince, Harry will conclude his visit with a garden party at the Queen’s official residence in Northern Ireland, Hillsborough Castle
Harry meets some of the staff and crews, to learn about their work in the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service. He later unveiled a plaque to officially open the station and commemorate his visit
A total of ten schools were represented from across Northern Ireland. A group had travelled from just across the border in Belturbet, Co Cavan.
The prince was applauded as he left and schoolchildren from both sides of the divide sung his praises.
Aodhan Mackin, 16, from Ardoyne, a republican district of north Belfast which has been the scene of bitter conflict over past years and decades, said: ‘Not many people would think to meet the prince but we did meet him, so it was good, and he was down to earth.’
Co-Operation Ireland helped arrange the Queen’s first visit to Dublin, which was a groundbreaking moment for Anglo-Irish relations.
Prince Harry meets ambulance crews during a visit to Ballymena Northern Division HQ and Ambulance Station during his visit to Northern Ireland on Thursday
The royal is photographed with an excitable group of school children in St Anne’s Square, Belfast, during his visit today
In 2012 it hosted a historic and highly symbolic handshake between late Sinn Fein deputy first minister and lifelong republican Martin McGuinness and the Queen.
Mr Sheridan said Harry’s visit was about building on that legacy.
‘Here was an opportunity for young people to say what they think about peace-building, about the issues of today and you could see the connection between them and Prince Harry, who is a young person himself.
‘They sat down and had conversations, all of us have prejudices but to be able to sit down and have conversations about things which are of common interest, be it mental health or how we build peace in this place.
‘I think it went incredibly well.’