Prince William’s new ITV documentary, Prince William: We Can End Homelessness, will come out at some point. They still aren’t saying when, just “coming soon.” I wonder if they’re really trying to build some buzz for this and whether that buzz will blow up in William’s face, much like the homelessness program he’s trying to promote. Last year, William launched Homewards, what amounted to a pilot program giving Royal Foundation money to local homeless shelters and halfway houses in six cities. Instead of billing it just like that, William spent weeks centering himself as the savior of homeless people. He was heavily criticized by policy experts, republicans and even some royalists. This documentary doesn’t cover any of that appropriate pushback, from what I can see. Instead, it’s once again a William-centered piece of PR fluff about how HE cares about homelessness, rather than the issue itself.
Prince William: We Can End Homelessness
Coming Soon to @ITV and @ITVX
An exclusive ITV1 documentary which follows the launch and first year of @HomewardsUK and its work to demonstrate that it’s possible to end homelessness@KensingtonRoyal pic.twitter.com/fQPWUrhwX8
— ITV (@ITV) October 13, 2024
William says in this clip: “I’ve slowly tried to work out what I can bring to the role and platform that I have. I have taken some inspiration and guidance from what my mother did, particularly with homelessness….I don’t believe we should be living with homelessness in the 21st century.” The operative word is “slowly.” He’s 42 years old and it’s taken him this long to come up with “maybe we should donate more money to homeless shelters.” I sh-t you not. And make no mistake, that really is the sum total of Homewards and William’s whole philosophy. “Donate money, add bureaucracy so that people know the money is coming from William’s foundation, and center William at all times because everything must be about William.”
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.