The Prince of Wales has said he “desperately” wants to help people in need, in a clip from a new documentary about his drive to tackle homelessness.
Prince William: We Can End Homelessness is due to air on ITV at the end of this month.
It will give viewers a look at the first 12 months of the Prince of Wales’ Homewards programme, which he launched last June in hope of showing ending homelessness once and for all is possible.
A short clip from the show, released by ITV on Wednesday, shows the prince sitting alone on a sofa in what appears to be his family home, with framed photos of his wife and children on a table nearby.
An interviewer, off-camera, asks him how he would respond to those who might not think he is the right person to lead such a project.
The prince responds: “I think everyone having a right to a safe and stable home benefits us all.
Prince William: We Can End Homelessness
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) October 5, 2024
🎬 Coming soon to @ITV and @ITVX pic.twitter.com/Lvj6M3hi1J
“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. Why else would I be here, if I’m not using that role properly to influence and help people where I can?
“And I like a big challenge. I do like that. But I can’t do it on my own.”
The landmark two-part series will feature “powerful” stories of people who are currently homeless or have been in the past, as well as “life-changing solutions” to the issue.
It will see a senior fire officer taking a formerly long-term homeless man to meet William and share his story.
William’s late mother Diana, Princess of Wales, used to take him and his brother, Prince Harry, to homeless shelters when they were children to broaden their horizons.
Homewards was launched by William and The Royal Foundation last June.
It is described as “a transformative, locally led programme, that aims to demonstrate that it’s possible to end homelessness, making it rare, brief and unrepeated”.
Over a five-year period, Homewards is working in six flagship locations across the UK - Lambeth in London, Newport, Northern Ireland, Sheffield, Aberdeen, and the three neighbouring Dorset towns of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole - to tackle homelessness.
It will draw on success stories from countries such as Finland, as well as ground-breaking projects in the UK.
It will provide the six areas with the “space, tools and expertise to deliver and demonstrate innovative solutions that prevent and end homelessness”, in hope of creating tried and tested models that can then be adopted elsewhere.
Homewards also aims to raise awareness of the breadth and complexities of homelessness.
“Homewards will show that by working together we can change the narrative, galvanise momentum, and drive forward lasting change to end homelessness for good,” says The Royal Foundation.
Prince William: We Can End Homelessness is produced by Mindhouse, and directed by documentary film-maker Leo Burley, who won a Bafta for his 2023 documentary The Real Mo Farah. He has also directed the 2020 BBC programme Freddie Flintoff: Living with Bulimia, and Life After Suicide.
The series is executive-produced by Arron Fellows, who co-founded Mindhouse with Louis Theroux.It airs on October 30 and 31 at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX, STV and STV Player.
