Prince Harry and Prince William almost always spend the anniversary of Princess Diana’s death privately. From the breadcrumbs Harry left in Spare, I gather that he always tried to visit Althorp on the anniversary, but that was when he lived in the UK. Historically, it’s been less of a thing for Diana’s sons to mark her birthday publicly. They did the concert in 2007, but that was a one-off. Well, suddenly, William is trying to reclaim ownership of his mother’s memory by marking her birthday (July 1st) publicly. He’s going back to “solving homelessness” after he’s spent most of this year attending football matches and doing boring events for Earthshot.
Prince William has chosen a deeply meaningful date to spotlight the progress of his mission to end homelessness — what would have been Princess Diana’s 64th birthday. On July 1, William will travel to Sheffield in northern England to mark the second anniversary of his Homewards initiative, which aims to make homelessness “rare, brief and unrepeated.” The cause is one that has long resonated with him — inspired by the compassion and advocacy of his late mother.
Across the six pilot areas, more than 100 projects are already underway — and one of the most significant breakthroughs has been securing over $50 million in financing from Lloyds Bank to support the development of housing across these regions. Homewards calls the investment a “groundbreaking moment,” one they hope will inspire other institutions to unlock new streams of funding for affordable homes.
As he prepared for his outing, William released an open letter to the six participating areas – as well Sheffield they are Newport in south Wales, Aberdeen in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Lambeth, London. He said they are now very much in “delivery mode” as the second year comes to an end.
“Your experiences are what makes Homewards unique and powerful,” William wrote. “We have the ability to harness our collective capabilities, expertise, and resources towards this common cause. I am immensely proud to say that your collective effort has already allowed us to achieve lasting impact. I am confident we can lead and inspire understanding, empathy and optimism that homelessness can be ended,” he continued. “Focus is also important, and you have identified the groups particularly at risk of homelessness in your locations to drive solutions that show it is possible to prevent their homelessness.”
William added, “While visiting the six locations, I have been inspired by the motivation, creativity, and expertise that is embodied in each location and the tangible difference you are making for some of society’s most vulnerable. Keep going!” he signed off.
He started Homewards two years ago and it’s still considered a “pilot program.” Allegedly, the Royal Foundation is “funding” some programs within existing homeless shelters, and William’s also trying to get involved in the creation of low-income housing. Although I don’t really understand William’s exact role in any of this – is he simply bankrolling programs? I suspect it’s more than that, meaning the Royal Foundation has created a lot of bureaucracy around the funding they are giving out. Meaning, the homeless shelters likely have to spend two pounds justifying why they’re spending one pound. Anyway, I’ve been following William’s on-and-off homeless crusade for so long, I remember when he boldly claimed that he would solve homelessness. I remember when he claimed he would open up royal properties and Duchy of Cornwall properties for homeless people. I remember when the British media ripped into him for having five homes, palaces and castles and “preaching” about homelessness.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
