Princess Kate may have broken royal protocol — for good reason — when visiting with U.K. radio host Roman Kemp.
While members of the royal family — specifically women — traditionally wear closed-toe pumps when representing the monarchy in public, Kate, 41, ditched shoes all together as she discussed mental health with Kemp, 30, at his home.
“The funniest thing was she didn’t have any shoes on because she was respectful enough to take her shoes off at the door,” Kemp said of the visit in a Wednesday, August 16, interview with The Times. “That really stuck in my head because you never see royalty with no shoes.”
Kemp explained that the meet-up came about after Kate reached out to him following the release of his 2021 BBC documentary Roman Kemp: Our Silent Emergency. The project explores the suicide crisis affecting young men in the U.K. and debuted after Kemp’s friend and producer Joe Lyons died by suicide.
“We had a Zoom call, just her and me,” Kemp told The Times. “And she was like, ‘Oh, you know, I can come over to your place and do it there.’ And I just said, ‘No, let’s go to my parents.’ It’s a bigger house. I don’t want to bring royalty to a flat in Vauxhall.”
Kemp — who is the son of musicians Martin Kemp and Shirlie Holliman — said part of the visit took place at his family’s kitchen table with their dogs present.
Kate, for her part, shared moments of their conversation through her official YouTube account in February. In the video, the princess and Kemp could be seen walking around the grounds of his parents’ estate as they discussed ways to lead happier and healthier lives. (Kate wore shoes as well as a cozy sweater and pants as the two were outside for the video component of the visit.)
Kemp and Kate discussed anxiety, depression and suicide, with Kemp sharing that his friend’s passing “made me realize that OK, if we really want to make a difference here, we’re gonna have to go younger.”
He continued, “That’s why I think your work is fantastic because, really, that’s who we need to be targeting.”
Kate has long advocated for mental health and launched the Centre for Early Childhood in June 2021 to “raise awareness of why the first five years of life are just so important for our future life outcomes, and what we can do as a society to embrace this gold opportunity to create a happier, more mentally healthy, more nurturing society.”
