Roman Kemp once opened up about the surreal time Kate, Princess of Wales, visited his parents’ home.
In 2023, TV and radio star Roman teamed up with Kate for an important campaign on mental health. It went alongside Kate’s Early Childhood foundation which looks into how the early years of someone’s life can affect the lives as they get older.
Speaking in an interview last summer, Roman revealed a “respectful” gesture Kate made when she paid a visit to his parents Martin and Shirlie Kemp’s home.
Roman Kemp on Kate’s visit
After Roman’s powerful BBC documentary about men’s mental health and mental health in general, Kate got in touch with him. During a Zoom call, the pair then decided to front a short film.
Roman told The Times: “It was an honour but it was one of the weirdest things. We had a Zoom call, just her and me. 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.’
“We were sitting at the kitchen counter, with my mum and dad and my sister with all the dogs, and Kate was there with us. The funniest thing was she didn’t have any shoes on because she was respectful enough to take her shoes off at the door. That really stuck in my head because you never see royalty with no shoes.”
Roman and Kate’s project
During the short film, which was shared in February 2023, Roman and Kate discussed mental health. Roman opened up about losing his friend and radio producer Joe Lyons, who tragically took his own life in 2020.
Roman told the Princess of Wales: “I’ve kind of got into this world in a way that no one really should do. I wish I wasn’t associated with the word suicide. But unfortunately, that word will follow me around for a long time.
That really stuck in my head because you never see royalty with no shoes.
“The thing that happened to me in losing my best mate to suicide and losing someone you’re with every single day, I felt like what someone had told me a suicidal person looked like, like what someone suffering looked like… was as if someone had handed me a paper and said ‘by the way, everything you thought is a lie and you need to go and tell people that.'”
Roman isn’t the only Kemp family member to discuss the visit from Kate. His mum Shirlie opened up about the Princess of Wales.
Read more: Martin Kemp announces podcast with son Roman as he admits they’ve ‘finally’ done it
Speaking to Hello! Magazine, Shirlie said: “I was so pleased and proud that the Princess of Wales came. She was so lovely and – oh my goodness – beautiful. What an incredible Queen she’s going to make.”
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