Archive · 14 Aug 2025
Prince William's Night on Streets to Fight Homelessness
Prince William, inspired by his mother Princess Diana, once slept outside in freezing temperatures to understand what it's like to be homeless.
This happened in 2009, years before he started a project to help homeless people in the UK.
Princess Diana used to bring him and his brother to homeless shelters when they were young.
He became involved with Centrepoint, a homeless charity, and has worked on programs to help homeless people.
William's current project, Homewards, aims to reduce homelessness in the UK, showing his lasting commitment to the cause.
Prince William spent a night sleeping rough in London in –4°C temperatures.
The experience aimed to deepen his understanding of homelessness.
His commitment is rooted in Princess Diana's example, who took him to shelters as a child.
William became Centrepoint's patron in 2005 and launched the Homewards project in 2023.
Homewards is a five-year plan to address homelessness in the UK.
- Who
- Prince William, along with Centrepoint's chief executive.
- What
- Prince William spent a night sleeping rough in London to understand homelessness.
- When
- December 2009
- Where
- London, UK
- Why
- To understand the challenges of homelessness and to help those most vulnerable.
- Event
- Prince William's night sleeping rough
- Date
- December 2009
- Temperature
- -4°C
- Location
- London, UK
- Inspiration
- Princess Diana
- Project
- Homewards
- Homewards Goal
- To make homelessness 'rare, brief, and unrepeated'