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Kate made a virtual visit to Clouds House, a rehab centre in Wiltshire run by Action on Addiction, in her role as patron of the charity. In a video call from her family home, Anmer Hall in Norfolk, the duchess talked to staff about how they have adapted their services, taking them online and reconfiguring the entire centre to allow 10 residential clients to be able to isolate for two weeks.She also discussed fears that more people will need treatment as the lockdown eases.

Kate said: “The worrying thing is, it is all those people who aren’t necessarily reaching out who are struggling, who perhaps don’t feel they can reach out.

“Or the fact that maybe they haven’t realised that addictive behaviours have sort of established, particularly if it’s the first time – and it’s those people who aren’t necessarily being vocal about it.

“It’s making sure that they know they can reach out and that you are there to help and support them in this very difficult time.”

During the call, Kate was given a briefing on the new research and spoke to chief executive Graham Beech, clinical lead Dr Simone Yule and treatment manager Anya Sparks, about whether they had noticed a difference in the number of people contacting them for emergency help.

Dr Yule said: “We are seeing more alcohol issues and in the community.

“I think definitely we know alcohol sales have gone up exponentially, so the rise in people that are now starting to seek treatment with lockdown gradually lifting, I think that is going to have a big impact.”

Mr Beech told the duchess their website was busier than ever and they were doing as much as they could to connect people digitally and also to let people know Clouds was still open.

He added: “We have done some polling and we have discovered that people are struggling during lockdown.

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