Prince William sent a good luck message to Gail Porter ahead of her Edinburgh Fringe run, the TV presenter has revealed.
On Wednesday (16 August), the Scottish TV personality kicks off her two-week run of comedy shows at the world’s biggest arts festival, which takes place in Edinburgh every August.
Appearing on Lorraine ahead of the first performance of her live show, titled Hung, Drawn and Portered, the 52-year-old told guest host Ranvir Singh that the Prince of Wales had been in contact to wish her luck.
Porter met the royal in June as part of his work looking into homelessness. The former Big Breakfast host has previously spoken about her experiences of being without a home and is now an ambassador for homelessness charity Centrepoint.
Describing the experience of meeting Prince William as “a bit bizarre”, Porter recalled to Singh: “He sent me a lovely thank you letter, and then there was a nice little handwritten bit at the bottom saying, ‘I hope you have the best time at the Edinburgh Fringe.’
“I thought, wow, that’s nice! Weird, but nice. Lovely… it was very thoughtful.”
Porter has spoken candidly in the past about her experiences struggling with her mental health, as well as suffering with alopecia, a condition which causes hair loss.
The former model will explore these subjects in her show too, telling Singh: “The show is about my life, but trying to make it funny. A lot of people know what I’ve been through, but a lot of people don’t know.
Prince William with Gail Porter in June— (Andy Parsons/Kensington Palace v)
"I’ve gone from doing my television stuff in the nineties to losing my hair, to losing my parents and losing my house and being homeless and getting sectioned and getting myself back on my feet again. So I just thought, you know what, you either feel sorry for yourself or you can make it into something funny.”
Porter will perform Hung, Drawn and Portered at Assembly George Square Gardens from 16 to 28 August (not 21) at 7pm.
Last month, Prince William appeared in a YouTube video where he was shown serving vegetarian burgers to unsuspecting customers in central London.
The burgers were made with products which won his Earthshot Prize, and customers had no idea that the royal would be the one serving them their burgers.
Many were visibly surprised by his presence, as the prince placed the burgers on the counter and said: “Morning everyone, nicely cooked – ready to go.”
