In the first part of his poignant ITV documentary on tackling homelessness, Prince William is seen at a meeting discussing the problem with charity workers – and after he is given a stark warning from the founder of the Big Issue
This is the emotionally charged moment from Prince William’s ITV documentary where a charity founder warns he wants “no bulls***” when it comes to tackling homelessness.
Last night, the first part ‘Prince William: We Can End Homelessness’ was broadcast on TV, exploring the first year of his Homewards initiative, which aims to develop a blueprint for eradicating homelessness in all its forms, “making it rare, brief and unrepeated”.
During the hour-long show, the prince was seen volunteering at homelessness shelter The Passage as well as convening meetings with homelessness charities and landlords. During one meeting, William is seen addressing those who have been invited to share ideas for his campaign.
He passionately tells them: “I’m conscious that this is a team game, so please do feel free to pile in when you need to.” One of those there, Lord John Bird, the founder of the Big Issue then responds by saying: “I hope you meant that.” William replies: “I do mean that” before Lord Bird adds: “Sorry to jump in. We need the expertise of everybody.”
He then tells the camera: “We’ve had local authorities working here. We’ve had charities working there. We’ve had government departments working there. We need now to put all of the failed thinking that has gone into homelessness over the last 30 years behind us, and we’ve all got to come together. So when William says he wants to converge it, that’s what I want, and I don’t really want to have any bulls***.”
William then also tells the camera: “John will happily tell me if it’s not going well. He is very direct and quite right. I mean, he’s seen many attempts come and go over the past. So it’s important people like John buy into what we’re doing.”
It comes after earlier in the programme where William is quizzed about those who might question whether he is the right person to lead the project on homelessness. William himself has several homes – his main home Adelaide Cottage in Windsor, as well as his Anmer Hall mansion in Norfolk and Apartment 1A in Kensington Palace in London.
But in response, he insists he has “no other agenda” than “desperately trying to help” people in need through his drive to tackle homelessness and describes how he views his royal role as attempting to influence and help where he can. An interviewer probes: “There will be some people who might question whether you’re the right person to lead this project and its efforts to end homelessness. How would you respond to that?”
William replies: “I think everyone having a right to a safe and stable home benefits us all. I come with no other agenda than desperately trying to help people who are in need. And I see that as part of my role, is that, why else would I be here if I’m not using this role properly to influence and help people where I can?”
The Homeswards campaign is a major long-term focus for William, who has told how visiting shelters with his late mother Diana, Princess of Wales as a child left a deep and lasting impression and inspired his work.
Homewards aims to develop a blueprint for eradicating homelessness in all its forms. Six Homewards locations were chosen – Newport, Lambeth, Belfast, Aberdeen, Sheffield and three neighbouring Dorset towns, Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch – with the aim of delivering bespoke solutions to issues in each area.
