The Duke of Cambridge has said he worries about the pressures his children may face if in future they came out as gay or lesbian.
Prince William said he would be “absolutely fine” if they did, but had concerns about the persecution they may face, admitting he had discussed the subject with his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge.
He also expressed his shock at the recent bus attack on a lesbian couple, saying: “I was really appalled by that attack.”
William voiced his concerns during a visit to the London headquarters of the Albert Kennedy Trust (Akt), an LGBT charity in Hoxton, east London, dedicated to helping young people made homeless because of their sexual orientation. He was asked the hypothetical question by a young gay man, who asked not to be identified: “If your child one day in the future said: ‘Oh I’m gay, oh I’m lesbian,’ whatever, how would you react?”
William replied: “I think you don’t really start thinking about that until you are a parent, and I think – obviously, absolutely fine by me.” The prince, a father of three, added: “The one thing I’d be worried about is how, particularly the roles my children fill, how that is going to be interpreted and seen. So Catherine and I have been doing a lot of talking about it to make sure they were prepared.”
He added: “It worries me not because of them being gay; it worries me how everyone else will react and perceive it and the pressure is then on them.”