Prince William: Visiting homeless shelter at age 11 with Diana was eye-opener

LONDON – Britain’s Prince William has recalled how his late mother, Princess Diana, took him to a shelter for homeless people when he was just 11 years old, saying how the visit opened his eyes to how others live a different life from him.

In an extract from a documentary about his efforts to end homelessness to be broadcast this week, the heir to the British throne said his mother introduced him and his younger brother, Prince Harry, to the cause as part of her determination to raise wider awareness of social issues, including Aids and mental health.

“I’d never been to anything like that before, and I was a bit anxious as to what to expect. My mother went about her usual part of making everyone feel relaxed and having a laugh and joking with everyone,” Prince William said of the 1993 visit to The Passage charity in London.

In June 2023, the elder son of King Charles launched a five-year project, Homewards, which he said was inspired by Princess Diana.

Homeless charities say it is hard to know exactly how many people are living on the streets, but statistics released this month said 178,560 households were assessed as homeless in England in 2023-24, up 12.3 per cent on the year before.

In focusing on homelessness, the prince said he was “desperately trying to help people who are in need, and I see that as part of my role”.

He recalled during his visit to The Passage playing chess and chatting with those there.

“That’s when it informed me that there are other people out there who don’t have the same life as you do,” he says in the documentary. “When you’re quite small... you just think life is what you see in front of you. You don’t really have concept to look elsewhere.

“And it’s when you meet people that I did then who put a different perspective in your head and say... I was living on the street last night.”

The full ITV documentary, Prince William: We Can End Homelessness, will be shown on Oct 30 and 31. REUTERS