William launches national campaign to tackle cyberbullying

Speaking from Google’s central London headquarters in King’s Cross, William said, as a parent, he understood the “sense of loss and anger of those particular families who have lost children” after they were targeted in campaigns of harassment.

William delivered a speech at the conclusion of the final meeting of technology and internet companies on the Royal Foundation Taskforce for Cyberbullying, where he urged organisations to commit to the ethos of a new plan to tackle the problem centred on getting youngsters to “stop, speak, and support”.

But he also said he had hoped the firms would “go further” with their delivery of a universal approach to tackling the issue, and expressed disappointment that companies had not agreed to create a form of standardisation around reporting abuse, or a single universal tool for children to report bullying when they saw it online.

Among those the Duke met before he took to the stage were Emma Hine, whose daughter Chloe was once a victim of online abuse and who has helped to create the taskforce’s new plan, and Lucy Alexander, whose son Felix took his own life after falling victim to cyber abuse last year.

Addressing them both as part of a working panel of parents who have committed to the scheme, the Duke said he was “sorry” that the campaign had not started in time to have made a difference to Felix and Chloe’s personal experiences with bullies.

He said: “I’m sorry it’s taken so long to get to this point - I can only apologise that it didn’t happen in time for you.”

But Ms Hine said that despite William’s regret, his “amazing” work was already making a difference to the lives of many other young people.

She said: “He’s got the power to bring together so many important people and they will listen to him.

“For him to actually be so passionate about creating this code of conduct and helping so many people, I think it’s amazing.”

She added: “He said to myself and Lucy, Felix’s mum, that he was sorry that it took so long to get to this point, but he has nothing to apologise for because he’s working so hard to make sure it doesn’t happen to other children and other parents - and that’s incredible.”