Jamal Edwards and Emma Cairney hang out at Buckingham Palace

Published on 07/08/2014

Jamal Edwards and Emma Cairney hang out at Buckingham Palace

As HRH The Duke of Cambridge and HRH Prince Harry launch the search for The Queen’s Young Leaders on Wednesday 9th July, two well-known personalities will be on hand to guide them through a very special Google Hangout live from Buckingham Palace.

The Princes will be joined by social media entrepreneur Jamal Edwards, 23, and radio 1 DJ Gemma Cairney, 29, who are both thrilled to part of the launch to find 240 exceptional young people across the Commonwealth.

Jamal is a writer, film-maker and founder of hugely popular SBTV – a YouTube channel that has over 200 million hits and is responsible for propelling the likes of Ed Sheeran into stardom.

Hard as it is to believe, just seven years ago, Jamal was making amateur videos whilst living on a council estate in Acton. Now, aside from interviewing politicians and A-list celebrities, fronting a Google Chrome advert and counting Richard Branson among his friends, he’s backing The Queen’s Young Leaders initiative along with a host of top celebrities and some of the world’s most inspirational young people.

Jamal says:

“I’m proud to be supporting The Queen’s Young Leaders programme that recognises the amazing things that young people around the Commonwealth are doing to make a difference. They have the passion to change the world.”

Alongside Jamal will be Birmingham born, 29 year old BBC Radio 1 DJ, Gemma Cairney who started her career as a stylist for bands such as Florence and the Machine and the Pigeon Detectives before moving into broadcasting.

Gemma loves working with ambitious and inspirational young people , enjoys collaboration and being able to give good honest advice, and that’s why she’s excited to attend the launch of The Queen’s Young Leaders.

Gemma says:

“It’s about people respecting the work you do. I was lucky enough to have a mentor when I was young who was generous at being patient. That was really valuable to me. I think it’s brilliant that this initiative plans to reward incredible young people who are making a real difference to their community.”