Prince William talks of hope as he vows to tackle homelessness

Prince William has revealed his plan to tackle homelessness in a two-part documentary titled Prince William: We Can End Homelessness.

During the film, a voiceover explained how the Prince of Wales started the project after King Charles ascended to the throne following the demise of Queen Elizabeth II.

"After King Charles came to the throne, Prince William inherited the roles of both Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall, along with ownership of the Duchy of Cornwall... one of the largest private estates in England,” it said.

"In the spring of 2023, he announced that the Duchy would be donating the land for a new supported-housing project in Nansledan, for local people experiencing homelessness."

The Prince of Wales then said, "So, the reason why the Duchy is involved in Homewards is because I now have the ability, which I didn't have before, to push through... things and issues that I care about.”

He added, "At some point, you've got to put your hand in your pocket and say, 'Right, we're going to build a whole project around this, and we're going to do something that's going to make a difference to people.'"

Speaking to Fara Williams in the ITVX doc, the Prince of Wales talked of the hope and optimism as they discussed the project.

“I went to a homeless unit in King's Cross,” Williams told the Prince. “There was no: ‘Are you okay? What's happened? Why are you here? It was just: There's your room, and that was it.”

To this, a concerned William said, “That's totally what Homewards is about. It's trying to prevent as early as possible rather than just manage the crises as its happening.”

“It is crucial that we get to those at-risk people like your younger self before they enter the homelessness chain because that's where all the damage gets done.

“It needs it. It needs the hope, it needs the optimism. It needs all that to show people it can be done.”