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Duke and Duchess of Cambridge awarded Blue Peter badges

Award winners: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been given Blue Peter badges: BBC
Award winners: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been given Blue Peter badges: BBC

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been awarded gold Blue Peter badges on the BBC children’s TV show.

Prince William and his wife Kate received the prize in recognition of their work campaigning to raise awareness of mental health issues, particularly in children.

In scenes to be aired in a Christmas special episode of the show, Prince William thanked hosts Lindsey Russell and Radzi Chinyanganya for their badges.

"That's very touching. Thank you very, very much. Wow, that's amazing... We have won a badge!" he said.

“We've still got a long way to go [on mental health] yet but we are getting there.”

Blue Peter: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the children's entertainment show (BBC)
Blue Peter: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the children's entertainment show (BBC)

"A shift is happening and we will hopefully crack a problem that should have been cracked a long time ago."

The badges are usually given to adults who appear on the show or children who have written in to share an achievement.

The gold badge is the highest accolade that can be awarded, but there are also orange competition, team player, green environmental and silver badges.

Other famous faces to have been given a badge include Sir David Attenborough, JK Rowling, Steven Spielberg, Marry Berry and David Beckham and the Queen.

Meet and greet: The Duchess of Cambridge chatting to guests on the show (BBC)
Meet and greet: The Duchess of Cambridge chatting to guests on the show (BBC)

Blue Peter editor Ewan Vinnicombe said it was ‘an honour’ to have the royals appear on the show.

"It was a real honour to welcome the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to the Blue Peter studios in our 60th year,” he commented.

"It was lovely to show them how much we value our audience getting involved with the show through letters, Fan Club comments on the website and the fantastic artwork they send to us every week.

"His Royal Highness was particularly impressed with a drawing of his grandmother wearing a tiara that one of the children had sent in."

The Blue Peter Christmas special airs Thursday, December 14 at 5.30pm in CBBC.