During a visit to a school in the West Midlands on Thursday, the Prince of Wales entertained the audience by recounting his daughter Princess Charlotte’s favorite joke, taking inspiration from comedian Jack Whitehall.

“I am here with the gang talking about male mental health and I’ve been asked to produce a dad joke so I’m trying to channel Jack Whitehall because most of his jokes are pretty dad-like,” William said.  “I’m going to say a joke which is Charlotte’s favourite joke, at the moment, which she keeps telling me.”

The Prince fulfilled his commitment to visit St Michael’s Church of England High School in Rowley Regis, following an initial invitation from 12-year-old student Freddie Hadley, who wrote a letter last October. Though William couldn’t make it then, he responded, praising Freddie and St. Michael’s School for their efforts in addressing mental health issues among students.

The upcoming monarch joined Freddie and other male students aged 11 to 14, who are part of the school’s Matrix Project, aimed at raising awareness of male mental health.

Last year, the group initiated the #AmIManlyEnough campaign to address the stigma surrounding male mental health and promote open communication among men and boys about their emotions.

William opened up about his inspiration around his work on mental health, telling the students: “It started really when I was doing lots of charitable work, I never set out to look out into mental health, particularly male mental health. 

“I was interested in homelessness, depression, addiction, all these separate areas and I hadn’t really put them altogether as a jigsaw – what are we looking at? What are we trying to fix? It all came together as a mental health piece. 

“My passion, if you like, has moved now into male mental health because of the stats you [James] mentioned at the beginning, about the suicide rate in young men is just terrifying, and I wanted to do something about it.”

Freddie said after the royal visit: “I really wanted to write the letter because I know Prince William is a massive advocate for male mental health. I thought if I wrote the letter to him he might recognise us, which he did on Twitter.”

“I completely thought it was the Lord Lieutenant who was coming today. Obviously, it was a great surprise so I understand why they didn’t tell me, but honestly it’s just been wonderful.

“I couldn’t get my head around it, I’m meeting Prince William the future king – it’s insane really. I’m just standing there and I see Prince William walking down the drive and I’m like, wow, all this work’s finally paid off.”