Prince William: I’d be absolutely fine if my children came out as gay

By Lucia Binding, news reporter

Prince William has said he would “fully support” his children if they came out as gay or lesbian, but would be worried about “how hard their life could be”.

The Duke of Cambridge made the comments during a visit to the London headquarters of LGBTQ charity Albert Kennedy ahead of Pride celebrations in London.

The charity is dedicated to helping young people made homeless because of their sexual orientation.

The royal, who is the father of Prince George, five, Princess Charlotte, four, and one-year-old Prince Louis, met and spent time with individuals supported by the charity.

During a group discussion, one young gay man, who asked not to be identified, asked the duke: “If your child one day in the future said ‘oh I’m gay, oh I’m lesbian’ whatever, how would you react?”

However, he expressed worry over how society would react.

“I fully support whatever the decision they make, but it does worry me from a parent point of view, how many barriers, hateful words, persecution, all that, and discrimination that might come.”

William added that he and his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, “have been doing a lot of talking” about the subject to ensure they are prepared.

“I think communication is so important with everything, in order to help understand it you’ve got to talk a lot about stuff and make sure how to support each other and how to go through the process,” he said.

William’s visit to the charity is understood to be the first visit by a member of the royal family to a dedicated LGBTQ organisation.

In 2016, he became the first member of the royal family to be photographed for the cover of a gay magazine.

The second-in-line to the throne appeared in the July issue of Attitude magazine where he discussed the mental health implications of homophobic, biophobic and transphobic bullying.