Prince William said he would "fully support" his children if they were gay, but he would be concerned about the pressures they might face - particularly given their public status.
Prince William was speaking to young people at a LGBT youth charity in London when he was asked the hypothetical question by a young man who didn't want to be named: "If your child one day in the future said (via BBC): 'Oh I'm gay, oh I’m lesbian,' whatever, how would you react?"
William replied: "I think you don't really start thinking about that until you are a parent, and I think – obviously, absolutely fine by me."
He added: "The one thing I'd be worried about is how, particularly the roles my children fill, how that is going to be interpreted and seen. So Catherine and I have been doing a lot of talking about it to make sure they were prepared.
"It worries me not because of them being gay; it worries me how everyone else will react and perceive it and the pressure is then on them."
The 37-year-old royal told another young man in the group that he had been thinking about it since having Prince George, five, Princess Charlotte, four, and Prince Louis, one, and was "nervous" about how it could make their lives harder.
"Not because I am worried about them being gay, or anything. It’s more about the fact I’m worried about the pressure – as you all know - they'e going to face and how much harder their life could be," he ruminated.
"I fully support whatever decision they make, but it does worry me from a parent point of view how many barriers, hateful words, persecution and discrimination that might come. That's the bit that really troubles me a little bit."
The duke was visiting the Albert Kennedy Trust (Akt), an LGBT charity in Hoxton, east London, which helps young people made homeless because of their sexual orientation.
Tim Sigsworth, chief executive of AKT, said William's comments would make a "massive difference" and sent "a message that we need to support, and we need to empower LGBT people".
Naomi Gordon is news writer mainly covering entertainment news with a focus on celebrity interviews and television.
