Prince William and Kate awarded Blue Peter badges for mental health awareness campaign

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visit Blue Peter (Dan Vernon/BBC/PA)

THE Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have followed in the footsteps of the Queen by being awarded a Gold Blue Peter badge.

They received their badges at the Blue Peter studios in Salford for their campaign work around mental health and mental health issues affecting children.

The Queen was awarded a Gold badge – the programme’s highest award – during her Golden Jubilee year in 2002.

Sir David Attenborough, JK Rowling, Steven Spielberg, Mary Berry and David Beckham are among the small number of people to have been presented with the accolade, for role models who show great expertise in their field and inspire children across generations.

Duke and Duchess of Cambridge awarded a Gold #BluePeter Badge: https://t.co/an7MZsZyHr @KensingtonRoyal @CBBC pic.twitter.com/uF4wkOL7Ws

— BBC Press Office (@bbcpress) December 12, 2017

Receiving his badge, William said: “That’s very touching. Thank you very, very much.

“Wow, that’s amazing … We have won a badge!”

He said of the couple’s work on mental health: “We’ve still got a long way to go yet but we are getting there. A shift is happening and we will hopefully crack a problem that should have been cracked a long time ago.”

Joking about his grandmother also having a badge, he added: “We’ll compare!”

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visit Blue Peter (Dan Vernon/BBC) — The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visit Blue Peter (Dan Vernon/BBC/PA)

Kate told the BBC show’s presenters: “It’s hugely special. Mental health has been a learning process for us too … We want to get everyone talking about it so it hasn’t got that stigma it’s had.”

Blue Peter editor Ewan Vinnicombe said: “It was a real honour to welcome the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to the Blue Peter studios in our 60th year.

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“It was lovely to show them how much we value our audience getting involved with the show through letters, Fan Club comments on the website and the fantastic artwork they send to us every week.

“His Royal Highness was particularly impressed with a drawing of his grandmother wearing a tiara that one of the children had sent in.”

Viewers can see William and Kate being presented with their badges in Thursday’s live Blue Peter Christmas special at 5.30pm on CBBC.