‘Prince William was so personable, lovely and interested’
A new documentary featuring His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales about the subject of ending homelessness will air on ITV1 on Wednesday 30 and Thursday 31 October.
Filmed over 12 months, the landmark documentary, called Prince William: We Can End Homelessness follows Prince William and the first year of his Homewards programme, the aim of which is to make homelessness “rare, brief and unrepeated” by providing the often missing link between local charities already doing invaluable work on the ground.
The two-part series features powerful stories of those currently homeless and those who have lived experience of the issue, alongside some revolutionary solutions that could be life-saving for many people.
In the documentary, Prince William says, "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.”
He adds: “I don’t believe we should be living with homelessness in the 21st century.”
His Royal Highness explains that it was his late mother, Princess Diana, who first took him as a child to meet with homeless people.
“I’ve slowly tried to work out what can I bring to the role and the platform that I have,” he says. “I have taken some inspiration and guidance from what my mother did, particularly with homelessness.”
At the start of the documentary, we see Prince William helping to serve Christmas dinners to homeless people at The Passage in Westminster, of which the Prince is a patron. He spots a lady who he recognises from a previous visit, and she immediately gives him a hug, before telling the future King of England that she’s going into rehab after Christmas.
It’s a moment that embodies the sentiment that everyone who worked on the documentary has to say about the Prince.
“He was so personable, so lovely and so interested,” said TV presenter Gail Porter, who features in the second episode of the documentary having experienced homelessness herself in the past.
“There’s a huge difference between putting your name behind something and actually getting your hands dirty and meeting people and being a person," she added. "You can tell from everyone he spoke to, they were nervous at first and then the conversation just flowed, and he was joining in and having dinner with people, helping in the kitchen. Obviously I got a bit nervous [before speaking with Prince William], and then afterwards it felt like you were just talking to someone that was really very passionate and had their heart in the same sort of place that mine was.”
Mick Clarke, CEO of The Passage, agreed. “People who have lived with homelessness are very good at sussing almost instantly whether someone’s straightforward, whether they’re authentic or not,” he said. “We see him as the real person, he’s very relaxed, very chilled,” adding, “what the documentary does so well is capture the real him. It shines a light on a side we see all the time, but sometimes the public don’t.”
In one scene, Prince William meets with a man called Wayne at Windsor Castle, who was homeless for 20 years before he encountered the Salvation Army’s Housing First project. It was a particularly poignant moment for Leo Burley, the documentary’s BAFTA-winning director. “That ability the Prince has to empathise is because he too has had trauma,” said Leo. “Nearly all of us have suffered bereavement in one form or another. It’s those points of empathy which bind us as human beings.”
As well as showing a different side to Prince William, the documentary also shows a different side to homelessness.
Sabrina Cohen-Hatton, Chief Fire Officer of the West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, experienced homelessness at the age of 15, and features heavily in the first episode.
“One of the things that was the most difficult for me in my journey through homelessness was recovering from homelessness,” she said. “And I promise you, it is a recovery. Because you move from a place where you feel isolated from the rest of society as you know it and as you see it. You feel completely shut off. You feel devalued."
"You have experiences that are incredibly dehumanising," said Sabrina. "And after a while, it becomes part of your lens and how you see the world, and how you see yourself. And honestly, it doesn't take long for you to start to write yourself off. So recovering from homelessness is about much more than just having a roof over your head.”
Sabrina continued: “I’m living proof that you can recover from homelessness,” adding, “I’m absolutely delighted that we have a monarch who is willing to use his platform to deliver real, lasting and meaningful change.”
Prince William: We Can End Homelessness airs 30 and 31 October at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX, STV and STV Player.
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