The Duke of Cambridge has become the first member of the royal family to be photographed for the cover of a gay magazine.

Attitude, one of the UK’s leading gay magazines, has announced Prince William as their July cover star.

Prince William has used the article to highlight the issue of homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying and the enduring mental health consequences of these experiences.

Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to India Show all 32 1 /32 Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to India Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to India Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to India Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to India Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to India Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to India Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to India Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, paint an elephant statue at Kaziranga Discovery Park in Panbari village, in Kaziranga, some 250 km from Guwahati, the capital of the north-eastern state of Assam Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to India Britain's Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, feeds a baby elephant at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) at Panbari reserve forest in Kaziranga in the northeastern state of Assam, during the royal visit in India Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to India Prince William and Duchess of Cambridge, meet a rhino calf at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) at Panbari reserve forest in Kaziranga in the northeastern state of Assam Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to India Catherine and Prince William take a Game drive at Kaziranga National Park at Kaziranga National Park in Guwahati Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to India Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William visit a contact centre run by the charity Salaam Baalak, which provides emergency help and long term support to homeless children at New Delhi railway station Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to India Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge meet a young dancer as they watch dancing by the fireside during a Bihu Festival Celebration at Diphlu River Lodge Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to India The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge meet Prime Minister of India Narenda Mod in New Delhi's Hyderabad House during day three of the royal tour to India and Bhutan Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to India Catherine and William visited the Banganga Water Tank. They were given a traditional welcome at Bangana Water Tank and met representatives from SMILE, an organisation working in an economically deprived urban area to support local enterprise Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to India Duchess Of Cambridge enjoys a game of cricket during a visit to meet children from Magic Bus, Childline and Doorstep, at Mumbai's iconic recreation ground, the Oval Maidan Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to India Prince William and Catherine Duchess of Cambridge at India Gate in New Delhi Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to India Prince William and his wife Catherine take part in an event at the Gandhi Smriti, a museum dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi, in New Delhi Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to India Prince William and Duchess of Cambridge meet young entrepreneurs during a visit to Mumbai Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to India The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge prepare to lay a wreath at the Inida Gate in New Delhi Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to India The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge remove their shoes at Gandhi Smriti in New Dehli, India before paying their respects at the Mahatma Gandhi memorial Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to India ​The Duke and Duchess toured the museum housed in the Old Birla House and paid their respects at the place where Mahatma Gandhi's life ended on 30 January 1948 Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to India Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William pose for a picture at India Gate Memorial Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to India Prince William and Catherine pay their respects at the place where Mahatma Gandhi's life ended on 30 January 1948, at Gandhi Smriti, the Old Birla House museum Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to India The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge poses with local school children as they tour Old Birla Hous in Gandhi Smriti in New Dehli Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to India The Duke Duchess of Cambridge meet children from local charities Magic Bus, Childline and Doorstep, and join game of cricketwith boys from the Dilip Vengsarkar Academyat the Oval Maidan recreation ground Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to India The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are garlanded as they arrive at the Banganga Water Tank in Mumbai Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to India Catherine, Duchess Of Cambridge plays football during a visit to meet children from Magic Bus, Childline and Doorstep Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to India The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge react after playing football during a visit to the Banganga Water Tank in Mumbai Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to India Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William play football games during a visit to the Banganga Water tank, where they met representatives of SMILE Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to India The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrive at a Bollywood Charity Gala hosted by the British High Commission and the British Asian Trust at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to India Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge arrives for a Bollywood Inspired Charity Gala at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to India Prince William and Duchess of Cambridge speak with Boman Kohinoor during a meeting in Mumbai Prince William and Kate Middleton’s visit to India The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge stand after laying a wreath on the martyrs memorial at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai

He invited nine members of the LGBT community to Kensington Palace to hear and discuss their experiences.

Attitude's editor, Matthew Todd, 42, said he got in touch with Prince William about campaigning work he was doing about bullying and mental health in the LGBT community.

“I wrote to the Duke of Cambridge after writing about the realisation LGBT people can suffer higher levels of mental health problems and a growing awareness this is caused by experiences at school,” Todd told The Independent.

“I knew I was gay when I was 10 or 11 and it was completely isolating and I had no one to turn to,” he added.

“Prince William, the Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry have been focusing on mental health issues in that last year and I think they realised that there this is a significant problem with LGBT-phobic bullying in schools which needs to be addressed.”

Mr Todd emphasised how bullying of the LGBT community had long been overlooked by the mainstream and was viewed as a “fringe issue” and a “gay issue”. He commended the fact the royal family were now bringing it to the attention of the wider public.

“The highest institution of the country, the royal king, is saying it’s not suitable to bully someone because of their sexuality,” he added.

The royal family shared the cover photo on Twitter with a link to a taster of the article.

Prince William and Kate Middleton signed a book of condolence for the victims of the LGBT nightclub shooting in Orlando at the embassy in Westminster on Tuesday.

A total of 49 people were killed and 53 were injured after Omar Mateen, apparently inspired by Isis, stormed LGBT nightclub Pulse in Orlando, Florida, in the early hours of Sunday morning. It was the biggest mass shooting in modern US history.