Prince William: ‘I feel almost guilty every time I leave’ a homeless shelter

I remember last year, when Prince William launched Homewards, his big “homelessness project,” and suddenly, it felt like the knives were out for him. This wasn’t just royalists sniping at William for something arrogant and tone-deaf (although that was part of it and it was funny). Actual activists and experts in the field of homelessness criticized him as a dilettante who was centering himself in a complicated and highly political issue. He really thought he could create a “program” – which is just his foundation donating money to shelters – and everyone would fall all over themselves to call him the savior of homeless people. Perhaps Huevo’s documentary is a mulligan – one year later, we have been given another opportunity to praise him and tell him he’s the keenest and most credibly homeless savior ever. Except that Prince William: We Can End Homelessness has only revealed yet again that William is really bad at this.

Prince William has opened up about “feeling guilty” in a new documentary amid the royal privilege row. The Prince of Wales has released a new documentary regarding homelessness, a year after launching his Homewards campaign. Many fans and commentators have criticised the 42-year-old over his privilege, and whether or not he is the correct person to tackle homelessness.

Prince William spoke about this in the new documentary, and explained that he often feels “guilty” that he is not doing enough.

He said: “I’ve spent enough time learning and listening to what people have been through that I feel almost guilty every time I leave, that I’m not doing more to help, and I feel compelled to act, because I don’t want to just talk about it. I don’t want to just listen, I actually want to see someone smile, because their life has been made better. So therefore, building a project is the only way I can see at the moment to try and alleviate and help people who are in a much less fortunate or in a very difficult situation.”

The voiceover in the documentary could later be heard saying: “The Prince of Wales has already faced accusations surrounding his own privilege. There has been some criticism of the prince’s plans because of the multiple homes he owns. Some believe the prince is coming uncomfortably close to meddling in matters of policy.”

William insisted he has “no other agenda” than “desperately trying to help” people in need through his drive to tackle homelessness. He described how he views his royal role as attempting to influence and help where he can.

In the documentary, an interviewer probed: “There will be some people who might question whether you’re the right person to lead this project and its efforts to end homelessness. How would you respond to that?”

William replied: “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. And I see that as part of my role, is that, why else would I be here if I’m not using this role properly to influence and help people where I can?”

William has several homes, including Adelaide Cottage in Windsor, as well as his Anmer Hall mansion in Norfolk and Apartment 1A in Kensington Palace in London.

[From GB News]

The voiceover is doing dirty work, OMG. How did Kensington Palace approve of that? Was William like, “no, leave it in, we should acknowledge my privilege and get it out of the way!” That only works if your work can actually back up your privilege. As in, people wouldn’t care so much about William’s multiple mansions, palaces and castles if Homewards was truly a program which drastically improved homeless people’s situations. If William was a credible expert in the field, or if he was doing anything more than just “visiting a couple of homeless shelters a few times a year” and “donating money,” acknowledging his privilege and moving on would be exactly the way to play this. Unfortunately, there’s no there there. This isn’t actually about solutions for homelessness. It’s about William centering himself in a complicated issue he is too stupid and too privileged to understand.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

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57 Responses to “Prince William: ‘I feel almost guilty every time I leave’ a homeless shelter”

  1. Libra says:

    ” Almost” is carrying a heavy load here, doing all the work.

  2. lucy2 says:

    Almost.

  3. Linney says:

    He should not feel guilty. How we can expect him to do more? He is too busy doing the school run!

    • PC says:

      William would look so much better if he followed Jimmy Carter’s Habitat for Humanity model. Really do the foundation’s work from the ground up. Donate his time and his money. And pick up a hammer and some nails and help build some new homes. The visuals of him doing the physical labor would go a long way in improving his image. But that would require real work which is something he seems allergic to.

      • LauraD says:

        @PC – which you know would be the case if Harry was still around to “front” William’s vanity project. He really doesn’t get it does he. He so says he wants to modernise the monarchy but, like his father he’s too vain ignorant to realise he need to do more than just show up and wave to the plebs.

      • Elizabeth says:

        You hit the nail on the head, so to speak, PC. If William established a UK version of Habit for Humanity, going out into the field, physically building the houses, it would improve his image so much but the last time he did any physical work like that was probably during his gap year.

      • Smart&Messy says:

        Have you seen the photos of him trying to dig a hole with a shovel?

  4. yipyip says:

    Almost? FGS! Does he hear himself?
    Write a damn check you billionaire heir. Then leave.
    William seems to be a dumb bunny. (Trying to stop my cussing)

    Not 1 person on his PR team willing to train him before he keeps putting his foot in his mouth?
    Not 1.

    • Karen says:

      lol Where I come from it’s called dumb as a stump. Or dumb as a rock. Either one fits him. No one takes this man boy serious.

      • yipyip says:

        Karen,
        “Dumber than a bag of hammers” from Oh Brother where art tho, just popped into my head. LOL

  5. Maxine Branch says:

    No one takes William seriously at whatever he tries. He is a pathetic selfish man who centered himself for accolades at the expense of those suffering. He is not an intelligent man.

  6. s808 says:

    Almost huh?

  7. Tessa says:

    Hey William feel guilty about how you treated Harry, Meghan and their children. William is such a hypocrite

  8. Kristen from MA says:

    His “Early Years.” Busy work.

    • Anna says:

      They really have very grand egos thinking they can take on such complex issues, involving economy, politics, real systemic solutions, especially when we are constantly told they cannot get involved in those. Yet, they forget they really do not like to work at all and we are left with “raising awareness”. It’s pathetic at this point. Look at your SIL: smaller issues where you can make a difference – like helping women get back to work or check on a particular community and figure out (actually hire smart people for that) what can help, like Grenfell victims and their communal kitchen. This is how you do it!

  9. Tessa says:

    William will leave the almost guilt behind, get into his copter and fly off and his butler “Jeeves” will have a drink and dinner waiting for him. He’s such a phony

  10. SIde Eye says:

    We are all that man to the far right of the first pic. It’s a whole mood.

  11. Nanea says:

    I love how even Jan Moir at the Fail panned him, other than the usual suspects iNews and Guardian.

    Fail:
    ‘If I can be the glue that will hold you together,’ he suggested at a meeting. I don’t think they were too impressed.

    iNews:
    As an hour of factual television that was supposed to prove it is possible to end homelessness, this documentary was an abject failure.

    Guardian:
    I am still not entirely clear quite how Homewards is going to achieve its goal of making homelessness “rare, brief and unrepeated”, it would be higher. I know it involves flagship locations, £500,000 from the Royal Foundation for each of them over five years, unlocking scalable solutions, asking communities, tailoring solutions (before or after scaling them I am not sure), reaching out, working from the bottom up, bringing people together, shining a light, putting aside failed thinking, building coalitions, replicating successes – but what this all adds up to I do not know.

    At least he means well, UK’s favorite Bill Middletonedeaf…

  12. UnstrungPearl says:

    It’s very stupid and ego driven to centre himself here. Yes he’s partly restricted due to political aspects, but there are so many organisations doing good work, running pilots etc. Just write a huge check every year and promote those actually involved!
    Putting himself in the doc actually detracts from the work because he gets a negative reaction.

    • SarahCS says:

      When you compare him to someone like Mackenzie (sp?) Bezos who hands over a pile of money, no strings attached and lets them tell people where they got it from it’s shockingly different. Almost as if the charity isn’t the point.

  13. Amy Bee says:

    He said he’s doing this so he could see people smile. This project is not about helping people but about getting praise for himself and raising his profile.

  14. Yes “almost” but he doesn’t feel guilty. What a clueless jackass to even say that out loud. He has empathy for no one. He has no charm and he doesn’t know how to connect with people. Just proves he is doing this for his PR and he is failing with that.

  15. Eurydice says:

    Poor little rich William, such a sad sack weakling – wha, wha, wha, please care about my feelings. Such a pathetic hypocrite – oh dear, oh my, whatever shall I do with all my billions? Instead of cringing around almost feeling guilty, how about standing up like an adult and feeling determined.

  16. Julie says:

    William’s involvement in any of his projects is a reflection of his privilege life. He has no friends or acquaintances that are not privileged, never had to work to get anything, he has no idea what it means to work for a living or even to protect his family. He has not developed any empathy for the ordinary people and this lacking is obvious. The only thing he could be good at is giving money and humbly highlight the results. His father is the same, but his public image is better because he gives money to charities.

  17. Becks1 says:

    He doesn’t even need to “just” write a check (although that would help) – much like Kate’s Early Years “work,” he’s acting like there are no other organizations in place to help with this issue. he’s acting like he woke up one morning and thought, homelessness is bad, that must really stink to not be able to move from palace to mansion to palace – and that he’s the first person to realize this is a problem.

    There are organizations out there trying to address this problem ALREADY at all the different levels – from making sure people have a safe place to sleep to helping them get back into a permanent home to making sure they are fed – he could just piggyback on one of those.

    Something we have said for years on here is that neither he nor Kate are idea people. Harry and Meghan are. And as a threshold matter, that’s fine. Not everyone is an “idea person.” I will admit that I am not. I don’t think QEII really was, I don’t think anne really is. Edward certainly isn’t. but then lean into something that IS your strength.

    and honestly H&M as “idea people” are still good examples for William to follow. They’re not making these sweeping grandiose statements about how they’re going to end X problem forever. They get to know organizations and causes and then figure out a way they can help. Meghan didn’t come up with the idea of Smart Works. She visited the organization, talked to the people involved, and came up with a relatively simple but very effective way to help the organization with the Smart Set. She didn’t create the hubb kitchen. she came up with a project that would help with its funding problem.

    As derangers love to remind us, Harry created Invictus after being inspired by the US DOD Warrior Games. But he took that concept and built on it and grew it and now we have Harry zooming into NATO meetings to talk about Invictus.

    William does not have to reinvent the wheel to be effective. he doesn’t have to create the next Invictus or even the next Prince’s Trust. And the more he tries the more ineffective and hapless he appears.

    • Nic919 says:

      Both William and Kate came up with causes that look like PR ideas and neither seem interested in them at all. And as you pointed out their arrogance in acting like they are the first to think about climate change or early years development shows how insular and sheltered they are. (In Kate’s case we have to wipe out Maria Montessori among others who set up programs well before Kate was even born)

      What I find interesting is that Charles also took a large topic in the environment but he must have better people guiding him because he never said he was going to solve the problem himself like William is saying with homelessness.

      Also William is a total idiot picking this issue because the causes of homelessness relate to class divisions and the fact that his family literally receives money from taxpayers when it could go to help the homeless. It’s like the plantation owner wondering why the slaves don’t have a long life span.

      • Julia says:

        I think the size of his “ambition” is the problem. There are real, concrete things a single ultra-wealthy, ultra-famous person could do to help the unhoused. For example, he could found, fund, and promote a service that connects people to a network of pro bono lawyers who will help them get legal ID. (Lacking ID is a HUGE PROBLEM: it prevents you from accessing all kinds of services or applying for jobs.) This truly would have a meaningful impact on people’s lives—women who fled domestic violence without carefully grabbing their important papers first, teenage runaways, people emerging from mental health episodes and realizing they’re far from home and may have alienated the people who would have helped them in other circumstances.

    • Eurydice says:

      Exactly, this. William doesn’t have to do everything; he just has to do one thing. And then he can do one more, and then one more.

      For me, the thing is that William doesn’t seem to have any strengths to lean into. He’s not an idea guy, he’s not an implementation guy, he’s not a fundraiser, he can’t be an inspirational figure because it’s not clear what he cares about. He doesn’t seem to have any interests at all. The only time we hear about his “interests,” like the environment, homelessness, etc., is when there some kind of event at which he’ll appear. Apart from airing his feelings, he’s really a cipher.

    • VilleRose says:

      I do think William’s heart is in the right place despite all his flaws. It is clear that he and Harry were very affected by the visits to homeless shelters/organizations at a young age with Diana. It left a mark on both of them.

      However in William’s case, he doesn’t know how to go about and affect any change and it’s hard to believe he’s truly invested in the homeless cause because intentional or not, everything he does is in competition with his brother. He is in part responsible for this comparison since he helped drive the Sussexes out. So he has no one but himself to blame with all the stories he leaks against Harry. Plus the media will naturally pit them against each other, with or without his blessing. It’s ok if William isn’t an idea guy, that’s fine. But if he only chose the right people to work with who could suggest good ideas to get involved with, then he would be so much more impactful in the way he associates himself with the homeless cause.

      One of the only great projects I can associate with the Wales was the Hold Still photo project during COVID lockdown where people submitted their photos of their experiences. I know Kate didn’t come up with that idea but it’s clear one of her advisors did. It was a meaningful and impactful project. They need to do more of those kinds of initiatives.

      • Tashiro says:

        Agree 100% I think he truly does want to help but he doesn’t know how to either see he needs help in formulating a plan or doesn’t know where to get help.

      • Nic919 says:

        I think he is more interested in being linked to one of Diana’s causes than anything else. Regular people who aren’t billionaires do more for the homeless than he does so I do not think he really cares about this issue more than it looks good for PR.

  18. QuiteContrary says:

    “I actually want to see someone smile, because their life has been made better.”

    He wants poor people to smile and make him feel better about being a super-privileged git, basically.

  19. Giddy says:

    Like Jimmy Carter’s work with Habitat for Humanity, in Austin a village as been created.”The Community First Village is a 225-resident tiny home village and RV park located just outside Austin, Texas city limits that opened in 2015 to house formerly homeless residents.” Residents pay rent of about $300 monthly, must keep their spaces neat, and have volunteer responsibilities in the community. It had been a huge success all on 51 acres. Think of what William could achieve with his enormous acreage.

  20. Jks says:

    He wants to properly “influence” people by saying ‘I said, homelessness begone! Why are you all ending homelessness like I told you to?’

  21. Square2 says:

    “I’ve spent *ENOUGH* time learning and listening to what people have been through that I feel *ALMOST* guilty every time I leave, that I’m not doing more to help, and I feel compelled to act, because I don’t want to just talk about it…”

    Liar, liar, WillyPants on fire.

    You do not feel any guilt or desperation. How about paying your taxes (so your government can spend those pounds on social issues)? How about using the big money you spent on producing & broadcasting these useless (to me) “Prince William: blah blah blah” documentaries on the real do-good organizations? (Same to your selfish racist wife, she should’ve used the money for that “soft focus” video on cancer-related organizations, instead of just self-promoting.)

    Oh, I remember you & your wife took more than one year (after “Spare” published) keep on briefing RR that you want Prince (might be pedo) Andrew’s huge mansion, even though you already own multiple houses (that you paid zero pound to aquire & zero taxes on them), while you “launched” your homeless project.

    Willy Boy, you are just annoyed that your brother & SIL (both are better than you in every way) are hard workers and would not just disappeared, so that you have to find something to do, pretending you are SOMEBODY & a global statesman. Keep this going on, you’ll become UK’s 🍊💩.

    Oh, poor poor William./s

  22. yipyip says:

    Remember all the stories about Frank Sinatra back in his day?
    Sinatra was famously a big tipper. He’d order a drink in a club and tip $100.
    Drink $6? Tip the bartender or waiter $100.
    Doorman, valets, bartenders, room service, etc. did it for years.
    I’ve heard Sinatra had one of his guys always carry a good amount of cash, so he could tip well.
    Can say a lot of trash about Sinatra but a good tipper is always Welcome.
    To me, that is a class move.

    Team William needs to go public with William donating personally, to his charities on top of the Duchy donations. William needs all the good PR he can get. PLUS he is personally stinking rich.

  23. yipyip says:

    A comment above recalls Jimmy Carters work with Habitat as a great example for William.
    Excellent suggestion!
    William is a well built, healthy young man. He could certainly do a full day of manual work in support of his charity. Of course, it would also be a full PR photo op.
    I think something hands on like that would be good for him as a person too.
    Do some manual labor for a week. If it was done well, he could get a huge PR boost too.

    Jimmy Carter and his wife did so much good after he left Office. Good man.

    • Smart&Messy says:

      Have you seen the photos of him trying to dig a hole with a shovel? At his events he does a lot of skits where he is supposed to pretend that he is doing manual labour and he sucks at it.

  24. Where'sMyTiara says:

    It’s being reported that ITV lost 40% of its audience in airing Prince Bozo’s vanity project.

    Love that for him.

  25. Kathalea says:

    As everyone already stated: hahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahhaaaaaahahahahahahahaaahahhahhah

  26. First comment says:

    I almost feel sorry for him!!!

  27. Lau says:

    This has to be one of the most embarrassing things he has ever done.

  28. Jmol says:

    Its true!! Ive seen prince william several times crying after his homeless engagements while driving his chopper back to his palace

  29. Ali says:

    Imagine the flip if harry said the same thing.

    2025, prediction of meegain and Harrelson’s divorce

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