Prince William has revealed that he began talking about homelessness with his three children during the school run.
In his new two-part documentary, Prince William: We Can End Homelessness, the royal, 42, revealed a behind-the-scenes look at the first year of the Homewards program.
The project was launched last year by Prince William and the Royal Foundation’s Homewards programme, with an ambitious five-year plan to tackle homelessness in the UK.
The documentary aired its first episode on Wednesday night on ITVX, revealing a first look at how the future king had spent his first job working with communities at a grassroots level, helping to create sustainable solutions and methods of prevention.
During the second episode, the father-of-three revealed that he had already started talking to his children, Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, nine, and Prince Louis, six, about homelessness issues.
Prince William has revealed that he started talking about homelessness with his three children during the school run.
Prince George, Kate (then Duchess of Cambridge), Prince Louis, Prince William and Princess Charlotte arrive to settle in for the afternoon at Lambrook School in 2022.
She was asked when she thought the time would be right to introduce her own children to the situation of homelessness.
William replied: ‘He’s probably already doing it on the school run. The first few times I thought, “Do I mention this or should I wait to see if any of them notice?”
And indeed, they did. There was a kind of silence after I said what was going on, I could see their brains working, trying to figure out what that means.
“And I think it’s very important to start those conversations when children are young so that they understand the world around them and not just live in their own little worlds.”
The prince decided to follow in the footsteps of his mother, Princess Diana, who spoke to him and Harry about homelessness from a young age.
In 2005, he chose homelessness charity Centrepoint as his first sponsorship, saying he felt “very close links” to the problem, partly because of the work his parents had done.
The prince decided to follow in the footsteps of his mother, Princess Diana, who spoke to him and Harry about homelessness from a young age.
The Prince has been talking to his own children about homelessness and revealed that they have started to think about the issue.
This is the hilarious moment Prince William was asked if he was ‘trying to escape’ by doing housework while volunteering at a homeless charity.
William tried to avoid kitchen work by saying he was going to “chat” with visitors.
In June last year, William revealed his plans to make rough sleeping, couch surfing and temporary accommodation a thing of the past in his ambitious five-year program initiative called Homewards, founded by the prince and the Royal Foundation .
Cameras started rolling in June last year when the Prince launched Homewards, focusing on six iconic locations: Aberdeen, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole; Lambeth; Newport; Northern Ireland and Sheffield.
During the first episode, which aired last night, the father-of-three was seen helping out at a Christmas dinner at The Passage, a homeless charity in London, where Princess Diana once took him as a child and where He volunteered.
The scene was filmed last year over the festive period, when the prince visited the London charity to help prepare the Christmas meal.
His down-to-earth relationship with those at the charity was made clear, as the prince cheekily attempted to avoid hard work in the kitchen by “going chatting” to visitors after glancing at his watch.
“You’ve got enough hands here anyway, right?” asked. “I could go there and chat.”
The documentary reunites the brothers on screen, if only through an old photo of both children visiting the shelter in 1993.
Prince William and Diana, Princess of Wales, during a visit to The Passage in London
But William, who had donned an apron for the occasion, was clearly not going to be granted any royal treatment and his excuses were obvious.
They jokingly told him: ‘Oh, you’re trying to escape work, I’m watching you!’
The Prince of Wales then made his fellow volunteers laugh and told them he would hand out their drinks or ketchup.
William first visited The Passage in 1993 with his late mother, Diana, and younger brother Harry, when he was just 11 years old, which is the same age as his eldest son, George. He is now the patron of the charity, for an issue very close to his heart.
During the documentary, William recalled his first visit to his mother and said he felt “anxious” but was calmed by his mother’s own kindness.
He said: ‘My mother did the usual thing, making everyone feel relaxed, laughing and joking with everyone. I remember at that moment thinking, ‘Well, if everyone doesn’t have a home, everyone will be very sad.’ But it was incredible how happy the atmosphere was.”
The prince has credited his mother for inspiring him to launch his initiative to end homelessness.
His interest in homeless people’s problems has been with him since he was a child. In 2009, the future king even spent a night sleeping under a bridge in London in temperatures of four degrees below zero.
The two-part series will also be available on Disney+ starting Friday, November 1.
This broadcast decision is a notable departure from that of the Prince of Wales’s brother. prince harrywho signed a five-year, £80m deal with netflix in 2020.
Last year, the Prince of Wales pledged to end homelessness in the UK, an ambitious project that began with six different areas of the country facing high numbers of homeless people.
He pledged £3 million to fund solving the problems at six iconic sites, in the hope that other parts of the UK will follow suit.
As a member of the Royal Family, William recognizes that his critics may question why someone from such a privileged background believes they can solve such a widespread problem.
Last night during the first episode, the prince was asked if he thought he might be the right person for the job, to which he responded: “I think the fact that everyone has the right to a safe home benefits us all.”
The Prince of Wales posed for photos with guests at The Passage, including one wearing a very festive jumper.
Prince of hugs! While William served pudding, one dinner guest couldn’t resist a hug with the royals.
Prince William greeted lunch guests warmly as he spent the day with them.
‘I don’t come with any agenda other than to desperately try to help people in need and I see it as part of my role. Why else would I be here if I’m not using this role properly to influence and help people while I can? ‘
“And I like big challenges, I like it, but I can’t do it alone,” he concluded.
On Thursday’s episode, when asked what he would say to critics, he tactfully responded, “I think if I answered all the critics, they’d listen to me all day.”
“Criticism makes you move forward,” he said.
Figures suggest that more than 300,000 people – almost half of whom are children – are homeless, whether living on the streets, in cars or in hostels and other temporary accommodation.
Since William’s first visit to The Passage over two decades ago, he has been involved with a number of organizations working in the field since then, including Centrepoint and The Big Issue.
Now the 42-year-old heir to the throne hoped to bring together coalitions of individuals, organizations and businesses to work together based on specific local needs.
Launching the ambitious plan last June, he said: “In a modern, progressive society, everyone should have a safe home, be treated with dignity and receive the support they need.”
‘Through Homewards, I want to make this a reality and, over the next five years, give people across the UK hope that homelessness can be prevented when we work together.
“It’s a big task, but I firmly believe that by working together it is possible to make homelessness rare, brief and not repeated.”