‘Gingers’ unite to promote mental health

The doorbell rings to the tune of the British national anthem God Save the Queen, and Prince Harry opens the door to find Ed Sheeran on the threshold.

Both men have red hair and beards.

“It’s like looking in the mirror,” the prince quips.

This is the opening scene of a video released on Thursday in which Harry and the musician join forces to campaign on an issue both care about.

The clip, posted on Harry’s Instagram page, shows the pair sitting at a table talking about their joint passion, but after a short while it becomes clear there is a misunderstanding.

“This for me is a subject and a conversation that is just not talked about enough. I think people all over the world are really suffering,” Harry says.

Sheeran responds that he has been trying to write a song about the issue to raise awareness. He then adds: “People just don’t understand what it’s like for people like us.”

Looking confused, Harry asks: “What?” So Sheeran elaborates: “You know, the jokes and snide comments, I just feel like it’s time that we stood up and said, you know, we’re not going to take this any more.

“We are ginger and we’re going to fight.”

Apparently embarrassed, Harry says: “OK. Slightly awkward,” before going on to explain that he was not talking about discrimination against people with red hair, but rather about World Mental Health Day on Thursday.

Hastily deleting the words “Gingers Unite” from a document on his laptop, Sheeran gets on-message and the video closes with them urging people to reach out to anyone who may be suffering from mental health problems.