Prince William speaks to former Lioness who was homeless as a teenager in new documentary series

Prince William has shared a heartwarming clip of him sitting down with a former England football star who was homeless as a teenager.

The Prince of Wales, 42, chats to Fara Williams in the second episode of his new documentary, Prince William: We Can End Homelessness, which airs tonight on ITVX.

The former Lioness tells the future king: ‘I went to a homeless unit in King’s Cross,’ 

‘There was no: “Are you okay? What’s happened? Why are you here?”

‘It was just: “There’s your room”, and that was it.’

A concerned William nods as Fara explains that she wouldn’t have been homeless for long if someone had helped her during her initial stay at the shelter. 

Ex-English footballer Fara Williams opens up to Prince William about her past homelessness

The second episode, which will air tonight on ITVX, features a candid conversation between the father-of-three and former professional footballer and Homewards advocate Fara Williams

‘That’s totally what Homewards is about,’ William replies. ‘It’s trying to prevent as early as possible rather than just manage the crises as its happening.

‘It is crucial that we get to those at-risk people like your younger self before they enter the homelessness chain because that’s where all the damage gets done.’

Fara, was born in Battersea, London, in 1984 and joined Chelsea Ladies at the age of 12.

Despite leaving home at 17 after a family dispute and staying at hostels for seven years, Fara went on to carve out a successful football career for herself – making her senior England debut in 2001 and earning 172 caps.

She previously told the Big Issue that football was all that motivated her.

‘If I didn’t have football, I wouldn’t have got through that period,’ she told the publication.

‘Living in a hostel, you see the choices some people made because they had nothing and didn’t have that focus or motivation. Football saved me.’

Ex-Lioness Fara Williams walks with Sir Keir Starmer in March. The footballer made her senior England debut in 2001 and earned 172 caps

In his new documentary, Prince William : We Can End Homelessness, the royal, 42, reveals a behind-the-scenes look at the first year of Prince William and The Royal Foundation’s Homewards programme

In a clip, Prince William is seen laughing with Homewards Advocate Fara Williams

In her sit-down conversation with the Prince about Homewards, Fara said: ‘I really want to get myself stuck into and try to get them to understand that those first weeks are so important and if you get in then I feel like we’ll see less young adults homeless for sure.’

‘Good,’ says the Prince who is wearing a navy suit paired with a baby blue shirt with the top buttons undone. ‘We want to unleash your energy, I can feel it already.’

The pair laugh before Prince William says in a sincere tone: ‘It needs it. It needs the hope, it needs the optimism. It needs all that to show people it can be done.’

Prince William has long been a supporter of women’s football and the Lionesses – having sent the team a good luck message ahead of the Euro 2022 Finals with Princess Charlotte beaming by his side – and presenting them with their trophy following their victory.

His documentary aired its first episode on Wednesday evening on ITVX, sharing a glance at the work the future king has been doing as part of his ambitious campaign to end homelessness in the UK – which was launched last year.

During the first episode, the royal was seen helping out at a Christmas dinner at The Passage, a homeless charity in London – where he was once taken by Princess Diana as a child and where he volunteered last year.

This is the hilarious moment Prince William was asked if he was ‘trying to escape’ doing chores while volunteering at a homeless charity

William attempted to dodge kitchen work by saying he was ‘going for a natter’ with visitors

His down-to-earth relationship with those at the charity was made clear, as the prince cheekily attempted to dodge hard work in the kitchen by ‘going for a natter’ with visitors instead after sneaking a glimpse at his watch. 

‘You’ve got enough hands in here anyway, don’t you?’ he asked. ‘I might go over there and have a natter’. 

But William, who had donned an apron for the occasion, was clearly not to be granted any sort of royal treatment and his excuses were seen right through. 

He was jokingly told: ‘Oh you’re trying to escape the work, I’m watching you!’

The Prince of Wales then sent his fellow volunteers into fits of laughter, saying he would hand out the drinks or the ketchup.  

The first of William’s two-part series emphasised the heir’s commitment to resolving homelessness in Britain, with concluding second episode airing on Thursday. 

The two-part series will also be available on Disney+ from Friday 1 November.

During the film – which includes real life stories from those who are experiencing homelessness or have previously been homeless – viewers also see inside some treasured memories from the prince’s own life.

William, who had donned an apron for the occasion, was clearly not to be granted any sort of royal treatment

The Prince of Wales then sent his fellow volunteers into fits of laughter, saying he would hands out the drinks or the ketchup

William first visited The Passage in 1993 with his late mother, Diana, and younger brother Harry, when he was just 11-years-old, which is the same age as his eldest son, George. He is now the patron of the charity, for an issue very close to his heart. 

The future king has set his sights on making rough sleeping, sofa surfing and temporary accommodation a thing of the past in his ambitious five-year initiative programme called Homewards, founded by the prince and the Royal Foundation. 

Cameras started rolling in June last year when the Prince launched his project Homewards, which focuses on ending homelessness in six UK areas: Aberdeen; Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole; Lambeth; Newport; Northern Ireland and Sheffield.   

This streaming decision is a notable departure from that of the Prince of Wales’ brother Prince Harry, who signed a five-year, £80million deal with Netflix in 2020.

Since launching his ambitious initiative to end homelessness in the UK – the prince has taken part in numerous charity engagements, including last year when he visited The Passage homeless charity.

Prince William and Diana, Princess of Wales, during a visit to The Passage in London

The documentary reunites the brothers on screen, if only via an old photo of both boys visiting the shelter in 1993

Just last year, the prince made a surprise appearance at the Christmas party of The Passage, in London, a charity which the prince holds particularly close to his heart.

The royal first visited The Passage with his late mother Princess Diana in the 1990s, to take part in the charity’s Christmas meal.

He recalled feeling ‘anxious’ during the visit but was put at ease by his mother’s own kindness. 

He said: ‘My mother went about her usual, making everyone feel relaxed, having a laugh and joking with everyone. 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 prince has credited his mother for inspiring him to launch his initiative to eradicate homelessness. 

In a heartwarming video posted on Twitter last Christmas, William was seen dressed in a festive green jumper and an apron – as he got stuck in preparing food in the kitchen.

In the clip, the royal was seen chatting and having a laugh with staff as he got busy peeling sprouts in the kitchen.

After the cooking was completed, William even stuck around to serve the turkey and delicious trimming to people arriving at The Passage – of which he was a patron, before joining them while they eat.

The visit came alongside the prince’s pledge, which was made last year, in which he promised to ramp up his work towards homelessness across the UK.

Prince William, 41, visited homelessness charity The Passage, based in London, to join staff and people who use the charity’s services for Christmas dinner

Around the same time, Kensington Palace released a video of of his wife, Kate, 42, and children George, 11, Charlotte, nine, and Louis, six, joining another charity ahead of Christmas, as they helped out at a baby bank in Windsor.

Last year, the Prince of Wales announced a £3 million fund to tackle homelessness in the UK – with the ambitious plan to bring it to an ‘end’ within five years.

Through his Royal Foundation’s charitable arm, he is funding six projects in flagship locations around the country.

During his visit last year, the Prince of Wales donned an apron and chatted to kitchen staff as he helped them prepare

The Prince of Wales posed for photos with guests at The Passage – including one who was wearing a very festive jumper

The royal shared a joke with one of the guests at the Christmas party while he dug into a pudding

Prince William greeted guests at the lunch with warmth as he spent the day with them

Father-of-three William appeared deep in conversation with one of the guests at the Christmas meal last year

Prince of hugs! As William served up pudding, one guest at the dinner couldn’t resist a hug with the royal 

Royal father-of-three William sat down to eat with people at the charity after he had spent time preparing the meal

The Prince of Wales appeared to share a joke with one gentleman who had been invited to the Christmas party

Wheres your hat, William? As dinner guests donned their festive paper hats from Christmas crackers, the royal shook hands with them

They will bring together local stakeholders, experts and even house builders to eradicate rough sleeping, ‘sofa surfing’ and temporary hostels and bring about substantive change.

As a member of the Royal Family, William acknowledges his critics may question why someone from such a privileged background believes they can solve such a widespread issue.

Figures suggest more than 300,000 people – nearly half of whom are children – are homeless, whether living on the streets, in cars, or hostels and other types of temporary accommodation.

Since William’s first visit to The Passage over two decades ago, he has been involved with several organisations working in the field ever since, including Centrepoint and The Big Issue. 

Now the 42-year-old heir to the throne hoped to bring together coalitions of individuals, organisations and businesses to work together based on specific local needs.

The programme, run by his Royal Foundation is called ‘Homewards’.

Launching the ambitious plan last June, he said: ‘In a modern and progressive society, everyone should have a safe and secure home, be treated with dignity and given the support they need. Through Homewards, I want to make this a reality and over the next five years, give people across the UK hope that homelessness can be prevented when we collaborate.

Yes chef! Prince William chatted to chefs in the kitchen at The Passage as he took instructions on what to do

The Prince of Wales looked festive in a green jumper paired with his apron

‘It’s a big task, but I firmly believe that by working together it is possible to make homelessness rare, brief and unrepeated.’

William has been spotted on several occasions selling copies of the Big Issue. Last year, the royal was spotted spending the afternoon in London supermarket with a seller of the magazine Dave Martin, 61. 

His visit to Tesco with Dave followed a similar trip out with the Big Issue vendor back in 2022 to mark the future King’s 40th birthday.

On that occasion, William sold 32 copies of the Big Issue in less than an hour as he spent the day on the streets of Victoria, London.

He also wrote for the magazine, explaining he wanted to shine a light on the issue of homelessness, recalling when he first visited a homeless shelter with his mother, the Princess of Wales. He added that Diana, ‘in her own inimitable style, was determined to shine a light on an overlooked, misunderstood problem’.

He said he plans to take his children to see the work of ‘fantastic’ organisations he works with ‘just as my mother did for me’.

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