Prince William has given a rare interview during the unveiling of an affordable housing development, as he opened up about royal life and his hopes to end homelessness.
The Prince of Wales was speaking to the media for the first time since becoming heir to the throne - with the chat also being his debut correspondence with a newspaper.
Reuben House in Peckham, southeast London, is an affordable housing development of 33 flats for young people from Centrepoint, of which the royal is a patron.
William has been a campaigner for the homeless since his late mum Princess Diana took him to a shelter when he was just 11.
It comes after he joined King Charles, as well as Princess Anne and Prince Edward as they donned full military uniform and rode horses during the Trooping of the Colour celebration on Saturday afternoon.
William's interview with The Sunday Times saw him answer awkward questions about the perception of the Royal Family, as well as why the Firm doesn't open up any of its properties to the homeless.
'It's hard sometimes' to see point of royals
William admitted “it’s hard sometimes” for many people to see the point of the Royal Family.
The death of the Queen brought up questions about the monarchy and the role that it will have going forward.
Especially with so much debate about the feud with his brother Harry, he said he understands all the “causes” that they try to highlight might be forgotten.
“But the amount of causes, the interests, the dinners, the meetings, the visits, whatever it is, that we do day in, day out, throughout the year, we’ve always been involved in that. It’s part of what we do," he added.
He spent one night sleeping rough
William spent one night sleeping rough near a London tube station 14 years ago.
Centrepoint CEO Seyi Obakin joined the royal in Blackfriars and was impressed with how he fared during the experience.
He said they both walked back to the charity's service HQ in Soho at dawn and William admitted he was "very uncomfortable".
However, Mr Obakin said the royal fared "much better than me".
Awkward 'non-answer' about spare rooms
William initially gave an "eloquent non-answer" when asked why he doesn't give over some of his spare rooms to help house the homeless.
The Prince has homes at Kensington Palace, Adelaide Cottage in Windsor and Anmer Hall on the King’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk, as well as the run of many other royal residences.
He now also controls the Duchy of Cornwall, a 130,000-acre property empire stretching from Cornwall to Kent.
After being asked again, he said "there is" duchy plans for social housing, adding he will “start small” with such accommodation on his land and that if he can demonstrate it is viable, he will scale it up.
Meets homeless incognito - but won't give cash
When asked if he is ever able to walk the streets incognito and encounter the homeless there, he answered: "Totally."
However, he said: “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."
Last year, he tried to go under the radar by selling copies of The Big Issue while wearing a baseball cap and jeans - but was soon pictured.
William added it's "very hard to make it not about me", and said he'd rather do such gestures in private and not "with an audience".
Secret food delivery to homeless hotel during Covid
Passage CEO Mick Clarke revealed, during the pandemic William masked-up and made three visits to the charity in November 2020.
He met with those who use the service and also prepared meals for an emergency food hub.
He helped chop carrots, box food in containers, washed up and in one case delivered meals to a homeless hotel in Westminster.
"They got a surprise when they saw their delivery man," Mr Clarke said.
Asks kids 'why are they there?' on school run
William said he is still considering when the right time would be to take kids George, Charlotte and Louis to a homeless organisation, as his mum did with him.
He revealed: "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."
He said he would ask them "why are they there?" and "what's going on?"
William added that it is important to teach his kids, like many others, that some people are "very fortunate" while others need a "helping hand".
