Prince William has taken a conciliatory step in his dispute with Prince Harry by naming him publicly for what is believed to be the first time in six years.
In a new documentary, William tells how Princess Diana took the brothers to a homeless shelter in London when they were children to show them the realities of life outside the palace.
The film, titled ‘Prince William: We Can End Homelessness’, includes moving, never-before-seen photographs of William and Diana in Westminster Passage.
In one, taken when Princess Diana visited William on June 14, 1993, just days before his 11th birthday, the young prince is seen attentively playing chess with a homeless man at the shelter.
Another, taken in December of that year, shows a young William dressed in a suit and boots, standing next to his mother in the shelter, his arms full of gifts to give.
Prince William publicly named Harry for what is believed to be the first time in six years.
Prince William and Diana, Princess of Wales, during a visit to The Passage in London
The documentary reunites the brothers on screen, if only through an old photo of both children visiting the shelter in 1993.
A young Prince William plays chess during a visit to The Passage
“My mother took me to the Passage, she took Harry and me there… I’d never been to anything like it before and I was a little anxious about what to expect,” William explains.
‘My mother did her usual bit of making everyone feel relaxed and joked with everyone… I remember having a good conversation, playing chess and chatting.
“You meet people, like me then, who put a different perspective in your head.”
The emotional opening highlights how the Prince’s passion for ending homelessness is fueled by memories of his mother.
The film emphasizes how trauma and family breakdown are common causes of homelessness; the first, unfortunately, is familiar to the Prince of Wales.
In addition to the death of his mother, William remains estranged from his younger brother.
Until this film, William is understood to have not spoken his brother’s name in a public speech or interview since 2018, when the two princes, along with the Princess of Wales and Meghan Markle, were interviewed at the Royal Foundation Forum.
The documentary also reunites the brothers on screen, if only through an old photo of both children visiting the shelter in 1993.
Filming also coincided with another personal trauma: the cancer diagnosis of his wife, the Princess of Wales.
Insiders acknowledge that filming took a little longer due to everything the Prince was “dealing with,” but added that he was “very accommodating” despite the challenges.
Cameras started rolling in June last year when the Prince launched his Homewards project, which focuses on ending homelessness in six areas of the UK: Aberdeen; Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole; Lambeth; Newport; Northern Ireland and Sheffield.
In a new documentary, William tells how Princess Diana took the brothers to a homeless shelter in London when they were children to show the realities of life outside the palace.
King Juan Carlos I of Spain, Prince Charles, Diana, William and Harry sitting on the steps of the Marivent Palace on August 10, 1987.
In addition to the death of his mother, William remains estranged from his younger brother.
Prince William is pictured offering help while in The Passage at Kensington Palace.
A look at William and Diana before their documentary ‘Prince William: We Can End Homegiving’
The Prince of Wales behind the scenes filming a documentary for the Homewards Campaign
We see the Prince at public engagements and in interviews with the director, Leo Burley, but the palace does not say exactly when the Prince sat down to speak.
What emerges is a Prince who is serious about making his mark.
“I feel like, with my position and my platform, I should create change,” he says.
‘I feel compelled to act because I don’t want to just talk about it. I don’t want to just listen. In fact, I want to see someone smile because their life has improved. Therefore, creating a project is the only way I see at the moment to try to alleviate and help people who find themselves in a much less fortunate or very difficult situation.’
Such a statement could be interpreted as rhetoric against the traditional royal ribbon-cutting and an indication that he could become quite a radical king.
William is a modern man who prefers to watch series rather than read, and it has already been suggested that he could be the first British monarch to break ties with the Church of England.
Others close to the current king point out that Charles was also a pioneering prince with projects such as the traditionalist town of Poundbury in Dorset.
At other times in the film we get a glimpse of the person behind the prince. When he meets 21-year-old Lainey, a young homeless woman training to work at Pret, he jokes: “Listen, if someone can figure out how to work a cappuccino machine, that’s amazing.” Well done, honestly. Those machines, I look at them and say, ‘you need a degree to work on this.’ They are crazy.
After meeting William, she reflects, “Even though he’s rich and people see him as posh…he doesn’t judge…I just felt like he was one of my friends.”
Other stars of the show include Sheffield-based community activist Safiya Saeed and formerly homeless campaigner Sabrina Cohen-Hatton.
Prince William and Harry at the unveiling of a fountain built in memory of Diana in London’s Hyde Park.
Harry and William attend the unveiling of a statue of their mother in The Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace.
A look at William during the filming of ‘Prince William: We Can End Homelessness’ on ITV1 and ITVX
Another look at Prince William as he gives his time in Kensington Passage
The film, titled ‘Prince William: We Can End Homelessness’, includes moving, never-before-seen photographs of William and Diana in Westminster Passage.
Homewards aims to find successful charity models, focusing on the Salvation Army in Cardiff, which brought rough sleeping Wayne into his own home.
In a powerful scene, Wayne is taken to Windsor Castle to meet Prince William.
Wayne’s experiences are deeply moving, as is learning that the meeting was filmed in the same location where the Princess of Wales filmed her cancer announcement in March.
The filmmakers also confront William about criticism that his wealth and (numerous) homes make him an unsuitable poster boy for a homeless project.
“I think if I responded to all the criticism, I’d be here all day,” he responds.
‘Criticism makes you move forward. I think it’s right to question it, but at the end of the day we are moving forward to bring change, hope and optimism to a place that, frankly, has had very little of that for a long time. “I hope I can bring something that hasn’t been done before.”
It’s an answer that may not satisfy his detractors, but it’s clear that William cares deeply about the subject, not despite his life and experiences, but because of them.
‘Many people can relate to trauma. Many people can relate to family breakdown and loss,’ says Homewards advocate Ms Cohen-Hatton.
“I think the prince’s ability to relate to people on that human level comes from some of the experiences he’s had himself.”
The two-part documentary will air on Wednesday 30 and Thursday 31 October at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
