London: Prince William’s wife Kate guest-edited the British edition of news website The Huffington Post on Wednesday to help raise awareness of the ‘devastating’ issue of children’s mental health.

The mother-of-two launched a new global initiative, ‘Young Minds Matter’, as she took over the site, writing: ‘For too long we have been embarrassed to admit when our children need emotional or psychiatric help.’

Kate said that she and William, the second in line to the British throne, ‘would not hesitate to seek help’ for their children, adding that they hoped ‘to encourage George and Charlotte to speak about their feelings’.

The Duchess of Cambridge became involved with children’s charities shortly after her 2011 wedding, work that has touched on issues such as addiction and family breakdown.

‘I often heard some heart-breaking stories about lives that had been torn apart, with devastating impacts for all involved, particularly children,’ the 34-year-old wrote.

‘What I did not expect was to see that time and time again, the issues that led people to addiction and destructive decision making seemed to almost always stem from unresolved childhood challenges,’ she added.

The Huffington Post published data showing that one in three parents worry that they will look like a bad mother or father if their child has a mental health problem.

She called it ‘a privilege’ to guest-edit the site, vowing to tackle the ‘taboo’ of mental health problems and ‘to celebrate the amazing work being done to improve and understand the mental health of young children’.