“Kate came up and personally spoke to me afterwards, which was nice,” Virgo tells PEOPLE.
“We spoke about the work that I do in schools, particularly for younger people, and we spoke about the importance of early intervention and prevention. She was very chatty and friendly.”
The three-hour session in May involved a 75-minute chat with Year 7 and Year 8 students (11-13 year-olds).
“We get them to think about the kind of emotions they feel throughout the week, and what causes those emotions,” explains Virgo, a recovering anorexic whose memoir, Stand Tall, Little Girl, is being released in a new second addition in October.
“It’s about being kind to themselves and not constantly comparing themselves to everyone around them.”
Virgo, 28, who became a mental health activist after a long battle with anorexia as a teen, now works full-time trying to fight the stigma around mental health.
She is also campaigning for the U.K government to review the eating disorder guidance delivered by doctors in a petition titled Dump The Scales, which currently has nearly 95,000 signatures.
Kate, who founded the mental health charity Heads Together, along with Prince William and Prince Harry, has been praised for her work in both mental health and child development.
Says Virgo: “It’s all very positive and people are feeling more able to open up about things, which is great.”
