Prince William is reflecting on a significant childhood moment he shared with his brother, Prince Harry. In his upcoming two-part documentary, Prince William: We Can End Homelessness, airing on October 30 and 31 on ITV in the U.K., the Prince of Wales provides an in-depth look at his five-year Homewards initiative, which seeks to showcase how homelessness can be eradicated in the U.K.
In a recently released clip from the documentary, William recalls how his late mother, Princess Diana, introduced him and Harry to the issue of homelessness by taking them to The Passage, a charity that supports individuals experiencing or at risk of homelessness. “My mother took me to The Passage; she took Harry and me both there. I must have been 11 at the time, maybe 10. I had never been to anything like that before, and I was a bit anxious about what to expect,” William shares, marking one of his first public mentions of Harry in years.
He continues to describe Diana’s ability to put everyone at ease. “My mother went about her usual, making everyone feel relaxed, having a laugh and joking with everyone. I remember thinking, ‘If everyone doesn’t have a home, they’re all going to be really sad.’ But it was incredible how happy the environment was.”
Reflecting on that day, William says, “I remember having good conversations, playing chess, chatting, and that’s when it dawned on me that there were people out there who don’t have the same life as you do. When you’re young, you think life is what you see in front of you, and you don’t really have a concept of looking elsewhere. Meeting people who say, ‘Well, I was living on the street last night,’ really struck me.”
Prince William has been a patron of The Passage since 2019 and has visited the charity multiple times since that initial experience with Harry.
In a 2017 interview, Harry also reflected on that formative experience, noting, “My mother played a huge role in showing me an ordinary life, including taking me and my brother to meet homeless people. Thank goodness I’m not completely cut off from reality. People would be amazed by the ordinary life William and I live.”
William’s comments come amid ongoing tensions between the brothers, which reportedly began in 2016 after William expressed concerns about Harry’s fast-paced relationship with Meghan Markle. In 2020, Harry and Meghan announced they were stepping back from royal duties.
The last time William and Harry were seen together was at their uncle Lord Robert Fellowes’ memorial service in August, although they reportedly did not interact during the event. A royal insider described the rift between the brothers as “very bad” but not “irreparable.”
The documentary will follow William as he launches the Homewards initiative across the U.K., highlighting the experiences of those facing homelessness and featuring advocates for the program and leaders of various projects.
The Royal Foundation describes Homewards as “a five-year program aimed at demonstrating that it’s possible to end homelessness by collaborating with six locations across the U.K.”