Prince William praises Danny Rose for talking about depression
The Duke, who is president of the FA, tells the England player he thinks it is "really very good what you did".
Thursday 7 June 2018 16:35, UK
Prince William has told Danny Rose he should be "really pleased" after the England footballer publicly said he had battled depression.
During a visit to England's World Cup training camp, the Duke of Cambridge broke off while chatting to a group of players to address Rose directly.
"If you don't mind me mentioning I think it's really very good what you did," said the prince, who is president of the FA.
"Well done. You should be really pleased. Loads of support from me on that," the duke told Rose at West Riding County Football Association.
William, wife Kate and brother Harry have launched a mental health awareness campaign called Heads Together.
The 27-year-old Tottenham full-back said his depression was triggered by a lengthy injury lay-off and tragedy in his family.
A knee complaint kept him sidelined for more than eight and a half months last year.
During that time, his uncle took his own life.
Within his immediate family, his mother was racially abused and his brother nearly shot in the face.
"It's no secret that I've been through a testing time at Tottenham this season, which led to me seeing a psychologist, and I was diagnosed with depression, which nobody knows about, and I had to get away from Tottenham," he told several national newspapers.
"I was on medication for a few months - again, nobody knows about that apart from my agent - but I'm off the medication now, I'm good now."
He added: "Nobody knows this either, but my uncle killed himself in the middle of my rehab, and that triggered the depression as well.
"It was really hard, and being referred to a doctor and psychologist helped me massively to cope.
"Off the field, there have been other incidents - in August, my mum was racially abused back home in Doncaster.
"She was very angry and upset about it, and then someone came to the house and nearly shot my brother in the face.
"It was a testing time."
Asked whether he had revealed the extent of his anguish to England manager Gareth Southgate, Rose added: "No.
"You are the only people who know about a lot of this stuff - I haven't told my mum or my dad, and they are probably going to be really angry reading this, but I've kept it to myself until now."
England begin their campaign at the World Cup in Russia on 18 June against Tunisia.