As one of many wealthiest landlords within the nation, Prince William needs to finish homelessness… however he is not unaware of the paradox, writes JAN MOIR
Prince William: We Can End Homelessness (Part 1, 9pm ITV)
Prince William has an ambitious new initiative – he wants to eradicate homelessness in the UK within five years. Well, jolly good for him.
The protection and security of his most vulnerable subjects is exactly the sort of mission a king-in-waiting should be embarking upon.
What could be more worthwhile than giving the homeless and the destitute somewhere safe and warm to sleep at night, instead of taking their chances on the cold and dirty streets of our cities?
Oh, if only there was someone who had castles and mansions and vast country estates and multi-bedroom palaces and a Duchy of Cornwall property portfolio worth about a billion at his disposal, someone who could throw open his arms and the doors to his inherited privilege and perhaps eradicate the problem in one, ermine-tinged swoop?
As one of the wealthiest landowners in the country trying to help those who haven’t got a carpet tile to call their own, Prince William is not unaware of the paradox of his position.
Prince William lends a hand at a festive dinner for the homeless at The Passage charity
Breath of fresh heir: Six minutes in and Prince William was already wearing a comedy apron, dishing out roast potatoes at a charity Christmas lunch
The royal met Wayne from Cardiff, who had been an alcoholic crack addict, robbed houses and stole from cars to fund his addictions before he turned his life around with the help of a charity
Ex-English footballer Fara Williams opened up to Prince William about her past homelessness
‘Why else would I be here if I am not using this role properly to help people who are in need,’ he said last night, when the vague spectre of criticism was faintly raised.
‘I don’t believe we should be living with homelessness in the 21st century,’ he reasoned. ‘I feel like with my platform I should be delivering change.’
To this end William launched his ‘Homewards’ programme in 2023 and gave an ITV documentary team the usual ‘unprecedented’ access to its progress for 12 months.
Of course, when it comes to royal documentaries, we all know this means exactly the opposite.
Participants are usually muffled in a headlock of deference and, in this instance, restricted to a meticulously curated view of only what Prince William wants to be viewed.
There was footage of William looking concerned at meetings, William looking concerned as he spoke to homeless people and William looking super concerned as he marched around with a folder under his arm.
Six minutes in and he was already wearing a comedy apron, dishing out roast potatoes at a charity Christmas lunch and talking about how he was inspired to help the homeless by the memory of his mother; exclusive and personal photographs of William and Diana visiting a homeless shelter duly provided.
Sometimes one cannot escape the feeling that we are all bystanders in a monumental existential struggle between Prince William and Prince Harry to be known henceforth as Mummy Loved Me Best.
Dr Sabrina Cohen-Hatton was previously homeless before becoming an author and senior firefighter and psychologist
Gemma (left), who works for an organisation called Housing First, with Prince William, Sabrina and Wayne, during a meeting at Kensington Palace
Dr Sabrina Cohen-Hatton, 41, was living on the streets of Wales aged just 15, following a heartbreaking childhood in which her father died when she was nine and her mother struggled ‘terribly’ with her mental health
Sabrina speaks to others in the documentary who have experienced homlessness
We Can End Homelessness was produced by Mindhouse, directed by Leo Burley and furnished with a portentous, sorrow-tinged voice-over by actor David Morrissey.
In the first of two parts, broadcast last night, viewers were fed some sobering but unchallenged statistics: 350,000 people across Britian now lack a permanent home, 80,000 families are living in temporary accommodation and since 2019, more than 109,000 homes in the private rental sector have received Section 21 eviction notices.
This suggested further homelessness even though the Labour government will abolish these notices next year.
Prince William and the late Princess Diana during a visit to The Passage centre in 1993
William was around 11 years old when he visited the day centre, which helps the homeless
William revealed how he was inspired to help the homeless by the memory of his mother
William played chess during his visit to The Passage homelessness charity with his mother
Prince William did not comment directly on these figures, nor were the complex political and societal reasons behind them analysed or discussed.
In Sheffield, we met a woman whose first language was not English, who had five children and three jobs, with no husband or father in sight.
Her landlord had served her with an eviction notice, but in the rush for sympathy we were never told why or how or what was really going on.
Did she, in fact, end up homeless? It was never made clear.
Next up was Wayne from Cardiff, who had been an alcoholic crack addict, who robbed houses and stole from cars to fund his addictions.
He had been saved by a remarkable woman called Gemma who worked for an organisation called Housing First.
She had taken him off the streets, put him in a home and supplied him with the ‘intensive social care’ that was needed to turn his life around.
‘Like getting all your benefits sorted and appointments with opticians,’ he explained.
Over mugs of tea at Windsor Castle, he was introduced to Prince William.
‘Wayne, how do we get the national psyche of people to understand the human story of why people might be street homeless?’ William asked.
How indeed. Throughout the hour-long programme, the Prince of Wales has waxed and waned about how you could ‘see in their eyes and the way they talk the pain and the journey they have been on’ and how he just wanted to ‘see someone smile because their life has been made better’.
Of course he means well, but at the end of part one, I was no clearer about how the prince was going to achieve his Homewards objective, except that he seemed keen on providing an ‘umbrella’ for well-established homeless organisations such as The Salvation Army, Shelter, the Big Issue and Centrepoint.
‘If I can be the glue that will hold you together,’ he suggested at a meeting. I don’t think they were too impressed.
Perhaps more will be revealed in part two.
