Harry, Meghan inspire Dubbo teens

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex took time to speak to teenage boys and girls about the issues affecting them during their visit to Dubbo, leaving them inspired.

Harry and Meghan meet netballers at a Dubbo high school.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have ended their Dubbo visit meeting local high school students. (AAP)

Prince Harry managed to leave a group of Dubbo high school boys speechless after asking them one question.

"How easy is it for you guys to talk about your mental health?"

Apart from a few sighs from the young men, you could hear a pin drop in the classroom.

"It's that easy then?" the duke said.

The prince is known for his mental health advocacy and founded mental health charity Heads Together with his brother and sister-in-law, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Prince Harry was visiting young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from the Clontarf Foundation at Dubbo College Senior Campus on Wednesday.

The young men all looked visibly nervous when Harry walked into the classroom but were smiling from ear to ear after they shook hands with the royal.

Harry listened intently as the small group of Year 11 and 12 boys told him about the program which aims to improve the education, life skills, self-esteem and employment prospects of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men through sport.

Foundation student Quincy Ross, 16, was shocked he got to shake hands with the royal.

"It was a once in a lifetime experience, especially one on one," he told AAP.

Meghan, meanwhile, spent time with the students in the Girls Academy program, a powerful in-school mentoring program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander girls.

Kieasha Ross, 17, and Shakira McGrath-Nolan, 18, and Meghan, sensing that Shakira was incredibly nervous, rubbed her back reassuringly.

"That made me feel better," she said afterwards. "She said stay calm, keep on doing it, you're doing great."

Meghan was presented with a Girls Academy T-shirt with the mission statement "Develop a girl, Change a community".

"You're speaking my language," said Meghan proudly to the eight awe-struck girls.

Tiarnie McBride said the duchess was really inspiring.

"She asked us all what we wanted to do when we left school. A couple of the girls want to be social workers and Meghan said 'my mum does that and it's a very rewarding job'," Tiarnie said.

"For us as Aboriginal girls, her being of a different race and being a royal shows us anyone can be accepted. She's a role model.'

When she left the Girls Academy Meghan joined her husband to meet the rest of the school.

The royal couple were supposed to be watching sporting displays out in the open but a torrential thunderstorm meant the netball and footy teams had to rush in from the rain.

Soaking wet and highly excited they ran past the Duke and Duchess each shaking their hands.

It was the last engagement of their visit to the regional NSW city before visiting Melbourne on Thursday.

Lifeline 13 11 14

beyondblue 1300 22 4636


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Published 17 October 2018 4:46pm
Source: AAP


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