Prince Harry and Ed Sheeran suffered a slight miscommunication in their World Mental Health Day video — but it was all in good fun, of course.
In a video shared to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s Instagram account, Sheeran joins the prince to discuss what he believes to be a pressing issue: their red hair.
“I’ve been trying to write a song about this to get it out to more people,” the singer-songwriter tells the duke. “People just don’t understand what it’s like for people like us — with the jokes and the snide comments. I just feel like it’s time we stood up and said, ‘We are ginger and we are going to fight.’”
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This stops Prince Harry, who had invited Sheeran over to discuss World Mental Health Day, in his tracks.
“Um, OK. This is slightly awkward,” the prince says. “There may have been a miscommunication — this is about World Mental Health Day?”
Sheeran backtracks as the camera pans to a view of his laptop screen. He slowly deletes the words “gingers unite,” with the rest of the page outlining a proposal titled “HRH Prince Harry and the king of ging Ed Sheeran get together to change the perception of people with Moroccan sunset hair.”
The duo then switches gears to a more serious note, to bring awareness to the importance of World Mental Health Day. They call on everyone to “reach out” to others who may be “suffering in silence.”
The Instagram post featuring the video tagged a variety of mental health-focused organizations, including Heads Together — an organization in which Prince William and Kate Middleton are also heavily involved — the Mental Health Foundation, YoungMinds U.K. and many more.
“Both Prince Harry and Ed Sheeran want to ensure that not just today but every day, you look after yourself, your friends and those around you,” the post’s caption reads. “Be willing to ask for help when you need it and know that we are all in this together.”
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The pair first teased the video a day prior, sharing a clip to the duke and duchess’ Instagram account that shows Sheeran ringing Prince Harry’s doorbell and saying: “It’s like looking in the mirror.”
Princes William and Harry, Middleton and Markle have put mental health awareness at the forefront of many of their philanthropic ventures.
On the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s recent African tour, the couple stopped by various organizations focused on the mental well-being of youth.
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