Duchess of Cambridge re-wears £5 Accessorize earrings on video call with Prince William

The Duchess of Cambridge once again demonstrated her thrifty approach to dressing by re-wearing a favourite pair of British high street earrings during her latest appearance.

In a moving video call, which was released yesterday via Instagram, Kate, 39, and Prince William, 38, spoke to a suicidal 12-year-old boy who was helped by their text counselling service Shout.

The couple heard how the youngster, who is given the name Jack to protect his identity, was standing on a high bridge unbeknownst to his loving and supportive parents when he contacted Shout – a crisis line the Cambridges launched as part of their Heads Together campaign with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in May 2019.

Mother-of-three Kate appeared elegant for the appearance, opting for an understated look, complete with her favoured £5 Accessorize hoops, which sparked a mass sell-out when she wore them last year.

In a moving video call, which was released yesterday via Instagram, Kate, 39, and Prince William (pictured), 38, spoke to a suicidal 12-year-old boy who was helped by their text counselling service Shout

The couple (pictured) heard how the youngster, who is given the name Jack to protect his identity, was standing on a high bridge unbeknownst to his loving and supportive parents when he contacted Shout - a crisis line the Cambridges launched as part of their Heads Together campaign with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in May 2019

The couple (pictured) heard how the youngster, who is given the name Jack to protect his identity, was standing on a high bridge unbeknownst to his loving and supportive parents when he contacted Shout – a crisis line the Cambridges launched as part of their Heads Together campaign with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in May 2019

The duchess, who is known for mixing high end designers with high street steals, donned the trendy set of gold hoops from the cut-price store, alongside a recycled £200 Equipment polka dot shirt.

Kate first wore the black and white polka dot blouse to visit Evelina London’s Sunshine House in Peckham, south London in 2019.

For her appearance yesterday, the royal sported glamorous makeup with a touch of sparkling eyeshadow and a sweep of bronzer, and pulled her hair into an trendy half-up, half-down style to reveal the high-street bargain earrings.

Online, the elegant earrings are described as ‘simple yet eye-catching’ and feature a ‘textured, twisted surface that shines in the light’.

Kate debuted the dazzling pair of earrings during an evening reception in Ireland in March last year.

Mother-of-three Kate appeared elegant for the appearance, opting for an understated look, complete with her favoured £5 Accessorize hoops (pictured), which sparked a mass sell-out when she wore them last year

 Mother-of-three Kate appeared elegant for the appearance, opting for an understated look, complete with her favoured £5 Accessorize hoops (pictured), which sparked a mass sell-out when she wore them last year

In a video clip of the royal couple’s conversation shared to the Shout Twitter page yesterday, the father of the boy tells Kate and William they have ‘no doubt’ that Jack’s conversation with a Shout volunteer that night when he was stood on that bridge was ‘enough to save his life’.

The parents only discovered what had happened when they were contacted by the emergency services to inform them Jack was safe.

Kate said: ‘I can’t imagine, as parents ourselves, I can’t imagine what it’s been like for you, and it’s every parent’s worst nightmare is receiving the call that you did on that night.’

William added: ‘Shout has effectively bridged that gap between a point of crisis and despair and brought him back to give him the peace and calm for a time to just work things out and find that support.’   

During their private conversation, the Duke and Duchess talked to both Jack and his parents, who described how the experience had been for the family. 

They talked about the close and loving relationships they have with all of their children, their ability to talk and listen as a family about difficult things, and their busy and fun household. Yet despite this, they hadn’t realised the extent of the great distress their son Jack had found himself in during lockdown.

During their private conversation, the Duke and Duchess (pictured) talked to both Jack and his parents, who described how the experience had been for the family

During their private conversation, the Duke and Duchess (pictured) talked to both Jack and his parents, who described how the experience had been for the family 

The Duke and Duchess heard how they had noticed that their once open, gregarious, fun loving and inquisitive son had become more introverted during the Covid-19 lockdown of spring and summer 2020. 

Jack spent increasing amounts of time on his own, no longer connecting with his friends online or on the phone, and struggling with online school. Jack became increasingly anxious about the future, and whether life would ever get back to some sort of normality. His father described how there was no trigger point for Jack’s anxiety which made it harder to understand how bad things had become.

The Duke and Duchess heard how, when Jack returned to school in autumn last year, his anxiety escalated. What Jack’s family didn’t know was that it had reached a dangerous level where the only solution he could see was to end his life. Jack’s parents explained how he had reached out to Shout in a pivotal moment, and, during a text conversation, a volunteer had been able to prevent Jack from ending his life.

Jack agreed with the Duke that having a conversation with Shout over text, rather than talking out loud, made it easier to be open about difficult emotions. He told The Duke and Duchess that more children and young people should learn about mental health, and learn how to talk to others about their feelings. 

The Duke and Duchess told Jack how incredibly brave he had been to share his story in order to raise awareness of mental health issues and the support that Shout 85258 provides. 

Shout is a legacy of the Heads Together campaign launched by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex after a £3million investment from The Royal Foundation. Meghan and Harry have since quit as senior members of the Royal Family and were stripped of their patronages by the Queen last month.