Kate: We must show addicts compassion

Princess in plea to end judgment, fear and shame of dependency

- BY JEREMY ARMSTRONG

THE Princess of Wales is urging people to show compassion and love to drug, alcohol or gambling addicts.

She said fear, shame and judgment shape experience of addiction but we need open conversations to bring the issue “out of the shadows”.

Catherine, 43, a patron of the Forward Trust, a charity supporting recovering addicts, was speaking ahead of Addiction Awareness Week.

The trust found, through an Ipsos survey, that a majority of adults have experienced, or know someone, who has lived with forms of dependency.

Catherine said: “Addiction is not a choice or a personal failing, but a complex mental health condition that should be met with empathy and support.

“But still, even now in 2025, people's experience of addiction is shaped by fear, shame and judgment. This needs to change.