Prince William
Prince William took his time to talk to two restaurant and club owners in Liverpool whose business and staff were impacted by the Tier 3 lockdown in the U.K. (Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth/Pool via REUTERS)

Prince William initiated a Zoom video call with a cafe owner from Liverpool after he saw her crying on TV because of the possibility of closing down her business. The Duke of Cambridge invited Natalie Haywood for a private talk, which reportedly took 45 minutes, as he wanted to ensure that the entrepreneur would be alright.

According to Daily Star, Prince William had his royal staff get in touch with Haywood because he wanted to talk to her and learn what's really going on in Liverpool amid the pandemic.

Haywood appeared on Channel 4 interview and talked about the struggles of her restaurant, Leaf Group, amid the Tier 3 lockdown set by the government. She caught the attention of the royal when she could not hold back her emotions while expressing her apprehensions.

Haywood said that the Tier 3 restriction temporarily shut down her flagship restaurant, which stood on a former bustling street. This site has since been quiet because of the pandemic crisis.

The restaurant owner said that she fears there will be bigger repercussions if the restrictions continue indefinitely, which will affect her staff's wages. She revealed that she had to let go of 40 of her workers for redundancies and might soon cut 85 more.

Prince William said that the Tier 3 lockdown could spark a "mental health catastrophe." The video call also included DJ Yousef, who runs the Circus Club Nights. He agreed with the royal and said that part of dining at restaurants or going to clubs is to socialize and unwind, which many can't do because of the risks. However, lockdowns are affecting everyone's sanity.

Both Haywood and Yousef said that Prince William was extremely empathetic to their issues. The royal wanted to understand what else must be done apart from the support of the local government.

A royal aide revealed that mental health will always be a priority for the Duke of Cambridge. Unfortunately, the long-term effects of the virus crisis will not be known for many months.

After the talk, Yousef posted on Instagram to acknowledge Prince William. He said that the royal was "cool, down to earth, nice and fun." He also said that he never imagined that the future King of England would one day step up and "help save the rave."

     
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 I know I’d hoped to take the discussion about what’s happening to the events industry all the way to the top.... but I wasn’t expecting this I was extremely surprised and flattered when @kensingtonroyal reached out a few days ago to ask if I’d do a zoom call with “Prince William The Duke of Cambridge” to discuss my views on what’s happening. Of course I thought it was a wind up at first! He wanted to know what’s happening in Liverpool and up & down the country in terms of the real world difficulties with covid related job losses in the events & hospitality industry and asked about the stress on the streets, and the growing mental health issues, all completely unfiltered. Neither Natalie Haywood (of Leaf Liverpool @leafonboldst ) nor I held back and he took on board what we had to say. He seemed genuinely interested and concerned and although recorded this wasn’t for a PR sound bite. It was just a discussion. He promised to take our concerns directly to parliament. He was cool, down to earth and nice, and fun too. When I begun djing over 20 years ago, I never thought I’d be invited to speak to the future King about how to help save the rave Crazy day.

A post shared by  Yousef (@yousefcircus) on Oct 19, 2020 at 9:43am PDT

Haywood also took to Instagram to thank the Duke of Cambridge. She said that the talk meant a lot amid the "doom and gloom" in the hospitality industry.

Prince William recently resumed his in-person royal engagements, however, the new restrictions might force him and the rest of the royal family to limit their activities.