Prince William reveals he points out homeless people to George, Louis and Charlotte during the school run through London and asks them what they see and why they think people are sleeping rough
- Prince William’s 130,000-acre estate could soon have social housing built on it
Prince William has revealed he points out homeless people to his children during the school run and asks them why they think people are sleeping rough.
In his first interview since becoming Prince of Wales, the heir, 40, explained how he was determined to ‘make a difference’ by building a social housing estate on the Duchy of Cornwall, which he inherited from his father King Charles.
He candidly spoke of the conversations he has with his own children, Prince George, 9, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5, about homelessness to ensure they grow up knowing ‘some of us are very fortunate’ while ‘some of us need a little bit of a helping hand’.
It comes as he unveiled plans to build a mixture of private, affordable and social housing on the 130,000-acre Duchy of Cornwall spans from Cornwall to Kent and includes estates in Newquay and Dorchester.
The Prince said he was pondering when the right time was to bring his children down to a homeless organisation.
Prince William spoke of conversations he has with Prince George, 9, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5, about homelessness to ensure they grow up knowing ‘some of us are very fortunate’
The Prince of Wales, 40, explained how he was determined to ‘make a difference’ by building a social housing estate on the Duchy of Cornwall
He told The Sunday Times: ‘I think when I can balance it with their schooling, they will definitely be exposed to it. On the school run we talk about what we see. When we were in London, driving backwards and forwards, we regularly used to see people sitting outside supermarkets and we’d talk about it.
‘I’d say to the children, “Why are they there? What’s going on?” I think it’s in all our interests, it’s the right thing to do to expose the children, at the right stage in the right dialogue, so they have an understanding.’
He added that it will show them that ‘some of us need to do a bit more where we can to help improve others lives’.
The Prince was vocal in his frustration around the government, councils and charities’ just ‘managing’ the homelessness crisis rather than ‘preventing’ it.
Now he is teasing what he calls a ‘really big project’ coming from the Royal Foundation, which he heads along with the Princess of Wales.
He said he hopes the project, which is being kept under wraps until later this month, will have a ‘tangible impact’ on improving living conditions.
William was 11-years-old when his mother, the late Princess Diana, took him and Prince Harry to a homeless shelter and is now a patron of the Passage, the charity that ran it.
He followed in his mother’s footsteps to become a patron of another charity, Centrepoint, in 2005, and recently spoke at an affordable housing development of 33 flats for young people funded by the group.
The charity’s research revealed last year that the number of 16 to 24-year-olds who were either homeless or at risk of becoming homeless was 122,000.
This figure, obtained through freedom of information requests to all councils, has risen since Centrepoint’s first request five years ago, when it was 110,000, and is due to rise again this year.
The Prince also revealed that he is planning to take his children to a homeless shelter, and that he tries to make sure his kids are exposed to the realities facing tens of thousands across the country.
Prince William, 40, spoke in his first interview since becoming the Prince of Wales, and used it to explain that he is determined to ‘make a difference’
Poundbury was developed on land belonging to the Duchy of Cornwall, a royal estate run under the stewardship of the Prince of Wales. It comprises of a mixture of private and affordable housing (file image)
He said that during the school run through London, he often asks Princes George and Louis and Princess Charlotte about what they see and why they think people are sleeping rough.
‘They [will] grow up knowing that actually, do you know what, some of us are very fortunate, some of us need a little bit of a helping hand, some of us need to do a bit more where we can to help others improve their lives.’
As a senior royal and with the eyes of the world constantly on him, the Prince was asked what he does personally to help people sleeping rough.
‘I don’t tend to give money. I tend to buy them a drink, food, something like that. I find that when I’m walking around or driving past and see other people do it [give money], people don’t even look at them. How many people stop and talk to somebody who is homeless? Very few of us.
‘In my job, I get to meet these people, I get to hear the stories, I get to feel it, I get to see it. That for me — and I’ve heard from them themselves — matters an awful lot.
‘They’ve become invisible. It’s really important that society acknowledges that there is somebody there and they’re having a tough time. It shouldn’t happen but it’s right there. You can’t ignore it.’
Diana, Princess of Wales during a visit to the homeless charity The Passage with her sons, (then) Prince Harry (2nd left) and Prince William (2nd right) in the early 1990s
William is a patron of the charity Centrepoint and recently spoke at an affordable housing development of 33 flats for young people funded by the group
And when asked by the paper whether there are plans for affordable homes on Duchy land, William said: ‘Absolutely. Social housing. You’ll see that when it’s ready. I’m no policy expert, but I push it where I can.’
Described by the paper as ‘curveball’ which aides were not expecting, William indicated that he will ‘start small’ with the housing and if the scheme does well will look to increase the amount available.
William said: ‘It’s all very well doing big gestures, but there’s no point if… there’s no future to it.’
Poundbury, an estate in Dorset which is part of the royal’s over £1billion property portfolio, comprises of 35 per cent affordable housing, as well as private homes.
Under the national planning policy framework, major developments which include housing should be required to have at offer 10 per cent affordable homes.
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