Prince George has visited a homeless shelter for the first time alongside Prince William, in a rare engagement for the young prince.
The father and son attended The Passage on Tuesday, the same homeless shelter Princess Diana took a young William to in 1993.
That visit would turn into a lifelong commitment to tackling homelessness for the Prince of Wales, which would culminate in him creating his Homewards programme, designed to demonstrate that ending homelessness is possible.
A Kensington Palace spokesman revealed: “It was important to The Prince of Wales to share with Prince George the work of The Passage and to spend time volunteering alongside the team.
Prince George preparing food at The Passage
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FLICKR/KENSINGTON PALACE
Prince George visits homeless shelter with Prince William in rare engagement for young royal
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KENSINGTON PALACE
“They both greatly enjoyed meeting staff, volunteers and service users as well as learning more about the charity’s work.
“The dedication shown not only by The Passage but by organisations across the homelessness sector, at Christmas and throughout the year, is invaluable.”
The chief executive of The Passage, Mike Clarke, spoke on the visit from the two royals.
Prince George and Prince William prepared food and learned about the work of the shelter
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FLICKR/KENSINGTON PALACE
Prince George and Prince William helping at a homeless shelter
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KENSINGTON PALACE
He revealed: “Prince William is very passionate about The Passage and about ending homelessness.
“And for many years, we talked about when was the right time to bring Prince George to visit The Passage.
“And we felt it was very much about when it felt right for him, and it was lovely that that was this Christmas, and we were thrilled to welcome him.”
Mr Clarke went on to speak about how George handled himself during his rare appearance.
Prince George and Prince William spoke with chief executive of The Passage, Mike Clarke
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FLICKR/KENSINGTON PALACE
Prince George ‘greatly enjoyed meeting staff, volunteers and service users as well as learning more about the charity’s work’
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KENSINGTON PALACE
He continued: “So when he first arrived, the first thing that we did was explain a little bit about the work of The Passage – how we firstly prevent people becoming homeless in the first place and, for those that have, helping them off the streets and into a place to call home.
“We were preparing Christmas lunch for about 150 people, and there was a lot of work to do, so it was really about, ‘Are you ready to roll up your sleeves and get stuck in?’ And he very much was.”
Whilst there, George signed the same visitor book that a young William, alongside Diana, had signed when he visited the shelter for the first time in 1993.
George signed the same visitor book that a young William, alongside Diana, had signed when he visited the shelter for the first time in 1993
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FLICKR/KENSINGTON PALACE
The Passage CEO described it as ‘a lovely, beautiful moment’
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KENSINGTON PALACE
Mr Clarke went on to say: “We have a visitors’ book which is very much of its time in terms of the cover and the design – that it was in 1993 when Prince William’s mother, Diana, first brought William to visit The Passage.
“And we noticed that on the page where Diana had signed and dated, and William underneath had signed and dated, there was a space. And we suggested that George might like to sign underneath them, and that’s what he did.
“And that was a lovely, beautiful moment – I think particularly with Prince William pointing out to George, ‘This is my mum’s signature. This was the first time that she brought me here.’ And it kind of felt full circle, really – 1993 through to 2025, with William bringing George.”
The chief executive concluded by revealing key insight into the Prince of Wales, saying: “William has often talked about, during his childhood, how his mother talked about – I think as he described – the importance of viewing life beyond palace walls. And I very much picked that up with George as well.
“And I think George was genuinely moved to experience the work that we do, even just a little snapshot of it.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.gbnews.com ’
