Prince William is visiting a school in the West Midlands today where he chatted with pupils about mental health.
Prince William revealed his daughter Princess Charlotte’s favourite joke “that she keeps telling me” on a visit to a school in the West Midlands today.

Asking the pupils to interact with him, the Prince of Wales proceeded to deliver a knock knock joke.

He said: “Knock knock”. “Who’s there?” the pupils asked.

“Interrupting cow”, William said. The pupils then started to reply “Interrupting cow, who?” – but the royal interjected with: “Moo!” prompting an eruption of laughter from the group of schoolchildren.

William shared the quip after being asked to share a “dad joke” with the pupils from St Michael’s Church of England High School.

William arrived at the school earlier on Thursday, when he made a 12-year-old boy’s day by surprising him with a visit to his school – six months after he invited the royal to see their mental health initiatives.

Last October, Freddie Hadley, took to X to invite William to St Michael’s Church of England High School in Rowley Regis, Sandwell, to see firsthand the brilliant work they do.

Much to the boy’s delight, William responded to his social media callout two days later, on World Mental Health Day, commending Freddie and his schoolmates for “tackling mental health challenges and stigmas head on”.

He sent his apologies for being unable to visit the school, and said: “I’m so sorry Catherine and I can’t be with you.”

Prince William told Princess Charlotte’s favourite joke on a visit today (Image: Getty)

Prince William visited a school on Thursday

But Freddie’s handwritten letter appeared to have struck a chord with William, who has long championed mental health himself, and asked his team to secretly arrange a visit to the school next time he was planning public engagements in the West Midlands.

That day came yesterday, when the heir to the throne took the schoolboy completely by surprise by turning up at his school.

Freddie was waiting for a different VIP guest, the Lord Lieutenant of the West Midlands, when he spotted the prince getting out of his car.

William walked over to Freddie, who was grinning at the surprise visitor, and said: “So this is the young lad who started it all off? Very nice to see you, thank you for your letter.”

“You’re very welcome,” replied Freddie.

The pair chatted away, and William laughed when the boy told him that he had expected the royal to reply to his letter, and explained it was because he had been very impressed with the royal’s work on mental health issues.

St. Michael’s employs a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing and in May 2022 achieved a gold standard award by the Carnegie Centre of Excellent for Mental Health in Schools.

The school launched ‘Student Voice’ in 2012, consisting of up to 100 students who meet at lunchtimes, after school, in the evenings and during school periods to develop initiatives ranging from fundraising to mental health, including working with elderly members of the community.

The school’s team of enthusiastic student Wellbeing Ambassadors also help design and implement a range of initiatives to support students.