Prince William has spoken publicly about his brother in an interview for the first time in years.
The heir to the throne shared a memory of how Princess Diana would speak to him and his brother Harry when they saw rough sleepers in the street.
‘When you are that small you are just curious and trying to work out what’s going on,’ he told an ITV documentary. ‘You ask the question “why are they sitting there?”
‘My mother would talk to us a bit about why they were there and it definitely made a really big impact.’
William said he now tries to talk to his own children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis in the same way as Diana spoke to them as children.
He also released never-before-seen photos of his first visit to The Passage homeless charity in 1993 with Princess Diana.
The prince described the Westminster organisation as a place that ‘left a deep and lasting impression upon me,’ during a speech in 2016.
In the photos, he is seen dressed in a navy suit holding presents alongside Princess Diana, as well as speaking to members of the charity.
William is also spotted in a separate visit that same year he attended with brother Prince Harry and is pictured playing chess in a red polo top.
Over the years he has returned, including a visit in 2018 to discuss mental health with wife Kate.
More recently, he visited to announce the opening of two new accommodation projects in February 2023.
While William did not go into detail about his brother, the comments mark the first time he has spoken about their relationship publicly since Harry stepped down as a working royal and moved to the US.
The two brothers have had a well publicised falling out dubbed the ‘Royal Rift’, which Harry has spoken about though William remained tight-lipped.
Although they have attended events together in recent years, they sat apart from one another, including at the most recent occasion, a funeral for their uncle Lord Fellowes in August this year.
In another possible sign of things thawing, William and Kate wished Harry a happy fortieth birthday publicly last month.
William is now fronting a two-part documentary titled: Prince William: We Can End Homelessness, to be shown on ITV later this month.
The new ITV and ITVX documentary, filmed over 12 months, will be aired by ITV1 and ITVX at 9pm on October 30 and 31.
The documentary will feature stories of those currently facing homelessness or who have lived experience of the issue, alongside some life-changing solutions.
Speaking on a podcast in 2023, William spoke about visiting The Passage with his mother, saying he was ‘grateful’ to Princess Diana for showing him ‘another part of society’ that he would not have been exposed to.
It follows the first year of Homewards – a five-year programme founded by William and The Royal Foundation – which aims to end homelessness.
.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.