Prince William has spoken in depth about a heartbreaking realisation he had when he was just a child in a candid documentary.

The future king has served as patron of the homeless charity The Passage since 2019, following in the footsteps of his mother who also championed the cause. And it was the first charity organisation that William visited with Princess Diana in 1993.

Speaking in the two-part documentary Prince William : We Can End Homelessness, William reflected on the visit saying: “My mother took me to The Passage; she took Harry and I 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. I remember having some good conversations, playing chess, chatting and that’s when it dawned on me that there were other people out there who don’t have the same life as you do. You know, when you’re quite small, you just think life is what you see in front of you and you don’t really have concept to look elsewhere.

“It’s when you meet people, as I did then, who put a different perspective in your head and say, ‘Well, I was living on the street last night,’ and you’re like, ‘Woah.’ I remember that happening.”

Prince William with Princess Diana and Prince Harry during a visit to The Passage ( 

William also spoke about his mother’s natural way of putting those around her at ease. “My mother went about her usual, making everyone feel relaxed, having a laugh and joking with everyone,” he recalled. “I remember at the time kind of thinking, ‘Well, if everyone doesn’t have a home, they’re all going to be really sad.’ But it was incredible how happy an environment it was.”

The Passage, which was founded in 1980 to provide practical support and a wide range of services to help transform the lives of homeless people. Since his first visit with his mother, William has returned on a number of occasions to show his support for the charity and in 2009, he slept rough for a night to better understand the plight of those without a roof over their heads.

It’s a cause close to William’s heart, not least because his late mother Princess Diana raised him to understand how fortunate life behind the palace wales is. It’s a message he, in turn, is passing on to his own children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.

“I am starting to introduce homelessness to my children on the school run. The first few times I thought, ‘Do I bring this up or should I wait to see if anybody noticed?’ Sure enough they did and they were just sort-of silent,” he said. “After I said what was going on, I could see their brains try to work out what that means. I do think it’s really important that we start those conversations when the children are small so they’re not just living, you know, in their own little worlds.”