Roman Kemp on working with Prince Harry and Kate Middleton: ‘You never really see a princess in her socks’

Roman Kemp has looked back at some of his interactions with the royals, including a “weird” time he DJ-ed with Prince Harry at a party thrown by the Princess of Wales.

The presenter and former host of Capital Radio’s Breakfast Show has become known as a vocal advocate for men’s mental health in recent years, fronting awareness campaigns and documentaries.

His 2021 film Our Silent Emergency, which explores the urgent issue of young men’s mental health and the prevalence of male suicide, was met with acclaim and is now shown to children in schools.

Speaking to The Times, Kemp, 31, recently looked back to a time when Kate got in touch with him after seeing him discuss mental health matters on television.

The princess then invited him to DJ at “some after-party to a garden party”, where he was joined by the Duke of Sussex who warned him to stick to playing “clean” versions of rap songs.

“It was very weird,” Kemp recalled. “Prince Harry was on the decks with me at one point which was very strange. He was fine.

“The only thing he said was, ‘Make sure you’ve not got the swearing edits of the rap songs’ and I was like yeah, don’t worry, you’re good.”

A few years later, Kemp and the princess collaborated on a short film for her work on mental health, in which she discusses the importance of mental wellbeing and relationships, and how nurturing children in their early years can build a society of healthy, happy adults.

Reflecting on meeting Kate at the home of his parents, Shirlie and Martin Kemp, the DJ said: “One of the most surreal days of my life. Me, my mum, dad, sister and the princess just chatting ‘round the kitchen table.

“The weirdest thing is, she took her shoes off at the door. You never really see a princess in her socks.”

Although Kate had offered to film the scenes at Kemp’s south London home, the presenter offered up his parents’ house instead, telling her: “I don’t think that’s the best idea. My mum and dad have a really nice gaff, let’s go there.”

Elsewhere in the interview, published on Tuesday (14 May), Kemp also weighed in on the princess revealing her cancer diagnosis to the world with a video after significant speculation about her health.

“It broke our hearts when we saw her do the video the other day,” he said. “I don’t think anyone should be under that level of scrutiny where they have to do that.”

Earlier this month, Roman and Martin Kemp launched their podcast FFS! My Dad is Martin Kemp, where they speak candidly on tough subjects such as death and parenting.