Prince William 'We can end homelessness"

[Thedom]

Part 1, I thought it was a really insightful and thought provoking documentary, very well produced and some impressive people working tirelessly to support the homeless community.

William came across as passionate and very articulate, knowledgeable without appearing to be preaching. A great cause and hopefully will be successful, it's great he is working so closely with those who are on the front line daily trying to make a difference.

He looks so like Diana, not only his appearance but his mannerisms and expressions, could have been watching and listening to Diana at times.

Don't know how it will do on Disney+ though, it is very UK specific, an unsexy subject and I am sure they will have to add subtitles in places.

But there was plenty across the media in the UK, Australia and the Pacific, front pages all over the place. And while not a specific thread on here, there was chat on other threads on the board.

Haven’t seen the documentary and no intention to.

It’s not that I dislike the POW, but I’m alarmed at the path he has chosen to take- focusing of a few issues that he feels he can commit.

1. Because he is working on behalf of the monarch and shouldn’t be solely focused on his own endeavours. These should be paid from his own finances and he should not receive money from the sovereign grant for these.
2. Because to take on such a subject is inevitably political, just the like Earthshot
3. The two subjects that he seems focused on Earthshot and ending homeless, make him seem somewhat ego driven. To think that he can drive such monumental change to make these happen is slightly delusional.
4. He needs to realise he is a public servant, therefore he should be going where he is directed. If that means cutting ribbons of new train stations, so be it
5. He needs to realise it’s not about him, his passions, his brand. I literally couldn’t care less, it’s about his position as POW and how he serves the public. The queen knew this, she knew her role had nothing to do with her passions, interests or personality. She had a role to perform and she took that seriously.

I understand that as King, his role would be different and he is trying to work out what his role as POW should be but there already a blueprint of how working royals serve us. This new approach is going to cause problems down the line.

I don’t get why they always talk about the Queen and how good she was in her role but then chose to do something completely different.

Anyway, I hope he moves away from this path and starts to follow the route the queen took, albeit maybe a bit more personable for 2024

Ok fair enough. Didn't see anything on MN, was thinking it would be on royal family board, but I'm not on here all the time

Yeah, I know.

The quote was correct. The attributing of it deliberately wasn't.

As far as I can tell these big projects are not Sovereign Grant funded. Earthshot was/is funded by money raised specifically for the project.

Homewards is seed funded with money from William’s charity foundation - funded by raised money.

Part of the Homewards funding is also coming from the Duchy of Cornwall money that William now has access to as Prince of Wales. Before he had to manage on funds given to him from Charles to run his household now William has the purse strings of the Duchy which was created to fund the activities of the heir to the throne.

He referenced in the documentary that one of the reasons he launched Homewards now is for the first time he has a pot of money he can use to fund projects like this.

l don’t know, the King was quite controversial in his views and actions as Prince of Wales, but he quite clearly stated that he knew that this was not entirely compatible with his role as King. And as King he has behaved appropriately. I’m sure William will do the same but I don’t see why he shouldn’t do
something that means something to him personally before that time comes. I don’t think for one minute he isn’t aware he is a public servant but I don’t agree that the monarchy should be preserved in aspic in the likeness of her late majesty. I also don’t think he is egotistical enough to think he can overcome climate change or homelessness on his own. But these are major issues of our time and he seems to want to try and use his high profile to draw attention to them and he also seems to want to try and instil a positive can do attitude towards these issues, which is actually refreshing. With Earthshot, for example, he is highlighting projects that are taking positive steps to address the problem. This is a welcome change from just whingeing about it it in my view

Did you not want to start that thread yourself? I hope you found that post you were looking for- I think it was one Serenster mentioned?

Well fair enough that we aren’t paying for it but it’s not what he should be using his platform as POW for.

He needs to stop focusing on his own - dare I say it…vanity projects and focus of the hard and- dare I say it…boring slog of a working royal.

No it’s not glamorous, I get that it must be a difficult job but whoever is advising him is setting him up for trouble in the future.

Both Harry and William seem to think Diana is the blueprint. But they are forgetting that her approach at the time caused criticism in the press and she obviously only had a few years away from the RF, working on her own. We don’t actually know if long term this would have been a successful strategy for her.

But what is the difference between the current PPOW working on 'politically charged' areas such as Early Years, Homelessness, Climate Change and as a previous poster said, the now King when PoW working on the Princes Trust and climate change?

I think the late Queen’s method for her mission was based on the times - to reach the different part of if the country and realms she literally had to go there.

Now it’s possible to reach connect and help communities - and explain what you’re doing by using modern trchnology.

Turning up, cutting ribbons and shaking hands is one part of the job, listening and helping highlight good causes and charities is another. Filling in for the monarch with State duties is another - William does all of that. At the point he becomes King his whole life is mapped out and proscribed until the day he dies.

Why not use the little space and time he has until then to fulfill some personal goals - particularly if those goals are to use his personal fortune, his name and his convening power to do some good.

The Queen became the Queen so young we didn’t get time to see how she would have spent her time as heir if she’d had a couple of decades to work on it.

I agree in part. That Charles has made the transition easily I agree with.

So things could change when W is King, but I’m just getting a real uneasy feeling about his approach. I honestly think that it could cause such controversy at some point (picking a subject that could be viewed as political, or something he clearly is out of touch with) that people could start thinking about the idea of a republic. I’m not talking anytime soon, but if he continues like this, the risk rises.

I think he needs to adopt a more conservative approach. However Charles has managed it fine, so who knows.

Where I disagree is I don’t think he should be wasting his time with these ‘passions’. He isn’t an expert on homelessness or environmentalism. So it’s absolute bonkers that he thinks he have such an impact. He clearly is not going to end homelessness. That’s not going to happen. Yes, he can get people talking etc but that’s the extent to what he can achieve.

I don’t get why they always talk about the Queen and how good she was in her role but then chose to do something completely different

The ER II was only 26 when she became queen, having spent some of her early married life away from official duties in Malta and on what was, in effect, maternity leave.

She didn’t leave a blueprint for what the heir does whilst waiting in the wings. Charles is the more relevant example here - and he was very much involved in projects (also ctriticised at times for being a crank or fringing in to politics. But I think what he did is what we’ve come to expect. And it does include taking initiatives, not just patronages and ribbon-cutting

So you’d rather he just mechanically toured the country opening things and reciting some speech someone else has written for him? Charles has followed his passions and so did Prince Philip in many respects. I think it’s great he is doing something he obviously feels very committed to changing.
I do think Kate needs to find causes she is really committed to as well. I’m surprised she isn’t championing causes to do with Art since that was her degree, or photography. The early years commitment seems a bit generic and unspecific.

You should seriously watch the programme. At one point he had the head of the five largest homeless charities in one room with him and they were taking him seriously. At the end of the first year of this five year programme they’ve had over 300 different organisations come together to work with them.

He’s building 24 homes in Cornwall designed to be temporary housing with wraparound social support to help homeless people transition to a permanent home - at the end of the five year programme they will use what they learn to create potential templates for other towns and cities.

It’s a long term serious commitment to tackling a big social issue - using his own money and time. Hardly a vanity project.

@wordler

Why not use the little space and time he has until then to fulfill some personal goals - particularly if those goals are to use his personal fortune, his name and his convening power to do some good

This is where we diverge greatly. His personal goals, should be on his own personal time. I don’t care who he is or what he is passionate about. He is a public servant and he should be reaching out to the public, to see where our priorities lie. Earthshot would not be one of them!

I have zero interest in him as a person. He isn’t a celebrity. Which is strange, because I love a bit of celeb gossip etc. It’s why I like the Meghan n Harry threads, I don’t view them as Royal public servants. I view them as idiotic celebs who provide no end of shenanigans that we can pour over. His position is above this. He needs to view himself and his work differently. I’m not looking for him to save the world, but to represemt the British people and serve them.

I agree the queen was of a different, deferential era and the modern approach has to have a human touch. But she reigned with little controversy for over 70years. So she was doing something right. No he can’t just wave from a car and shake a few hands but this new path is all wrong.

But hey, I’m in the minority here!

Did you think the queen mechanically toured? Or do you think she done she done her job?

@Twistybranch but he hasn't said "he" is going to end homelessness - he has said 'we' can end homelessness and the Homewards initative is pump priming new ways of solving/preventing homelessness. Neither he, Kate, Camilla, Sophie, or the King have declared themselves as 'experts' in the areas they are interested in, what they are able to do is convene partnerships and fund research for others to use. I've repeatedly posted on here about the Early Years work from Kate - in my mind it can be a powerful convening tool. They commissioned research which demonstrated in £xxxx the impact of investing in early years but did it in a way which matched the Treasury's accounting methodology - that analysis flows through to sectoral groups that can use that in lobbying submissions. I was also really surprised when I read the report of the business sector contribution to EY about some really innovative approaches organisations were taking to support employees in supporting their families. There was an organisation that allowed moms to have (i'll get the exact figures wrong but bear with...) something like 4-6 months post maternity at full pay but working at 80% to help with transition. These examples, much like the work that Timpsons does with regard to people with lived experience of the criminal justice system, can herald sector changes.

There is a dispatches programme being aired tomorrow about the King, the prince and their secret millions so it'll be interesting to see what they have found from their investigations.

I get by not watching the programme yet commenting on it, will attract some criticism.

I also don’t doubt his good faith in the project but I can’t get over the optics of a Prince born to such wealth and privilege thinking he can solve homelessness. To me it’s insanity. To me, it’s a bit of a ‘let them eat cake’ moment.

We have a huge homeless problem in my city, and in the US. I've been watching William with interest.

I'm not from the UK. I've read a lot of English history. William, to me, is doing the modern equivalent of starting a religious house to provide resources for the poor. Instead of alms and beds from religious houses, he's working with modern non-profits and donating his own money or encouraging people to donate. He's doing the 21st equivalent of a medieval Queen.

I personally don't view that as political.

Early years stuff, isn’t typically viewed with a political lens though. Yes, aspects could be but not to the same extent as Williams projects are. A multi millionaire landlord saying he wants to end homelessness? It just opens a can of worms

That’s for our governments to solve.

Why? Because it’s our respective governments that have contributed to this problem

But that’s my point - he hasn’t claimed he can end homelessness - he is of the mindset that in the 21st century we as a society should be able to do something about it as a systemic issue.

And he’s prepared to put his money where his mouth is and fund a project to encourage ideas and project based solutions. Very similar to how he wanted Earthshot to develop. Harness the collective brilliance of our modern world to provide specific measurable solutions.

Encourage community led, best practice knowledge and ideas - there are some inspiring people out there all working hard in their individual pockets - all able to bring their knowledge and energy to the table and the one thing he can do that many others can’t is use his platform and position to get a documentary made about it and more eyes on the problem.

His only official role as heir is to stay alive long enough to be monarch - provide the next heir and support the King of asked.

Plenty of heirs in the past filled this time with solely personal pleasure pursuits.

Now I don’t think he deserves any gold medals for basically not being a playboy prince but I don’t think it’s a bad thing that he wants to help people.

But government isn't solving the problem.