James O'Brien defends royals' mental health work to caller who believes its a show
24 February 2020, 14:54 | Updated: 24 February 2020, 16:20
A caller felt that Meghan, Harry, Kate and William are becoming vocal on topics such as mental health just because they're topics young people care about.
After revelations over the weekend that the Sussexes were stepping away from their royal brand, James was taking calls on the state of the royal family in the modern age.
Julia from Greenwich called in to initially express her views on how the royal family is an institution she doesn't concern herself with and that their place in society shouldn't be as relevant as it is, she moved on to attack the younger royals and the work they do in society.
There was acknowledgement by Julia that the work the young royals do, but she went further to point out "the younger generation have done what every generation does, they've adapted.
"they've latched on to causes which are very, very in tune with young people".
Julia believed the work the royals are doing is just an attempt to stay relevant. James disagreed and made the point that there are other important prominent figures bringing attention to mental health such as former footballer Ian Wright and Brit award winner Dave.
"Ian wright isn't in the same category as Kate and Meghan and Harry- he's someone who's made it up through celebrity status and having amazing talent" Julia pointed out, bringing the conversation back to being about the inherited fame of the royal family.
James wasn't too concerned this time about the validity of the royal family but rather admitted that their role is vital to make such topics more approachable. He acknowledged that "it's partly because of them that it's less of a taboo than it used to be", regardless of how their fame was attained.
In this instance, James defended the royal family's power to influence and recognised that Meghan, Harry, William and Kate use their influence for a good cause, especially for young people.
