Watch: Prince of Wales serves Christmas lunches at homelessness charity

The Prince of Wales visits The Passage homeless shelter in central London – ANDREW PARSONS

Kensington Palace

The Prince of Wales has helped serve Christmas lunch at a homelessness shelter run by a charity to which he had been introduced by his mother.

Prince William wore one of The Passage’s aprons as he joined volunteers serving food and chatted to attendees on Thursday.

He first visited the London-based charity with his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, more than 30 years ago.

Footage, posted to the Waleses’ X account on Sunday, captured him hugging Claudette Hawkins, The Passage’s head chef, and saying: “Come on, birthday girl, happy birthday! I won’t ask you what birthday it is.”

The Prince laughed with Ms Hawkins, and she later said that “he was helping serve lunch for the clients today, their Christmas lunch”.

The Prince serves Christmas lunch – Andrew Parsons/Kensington Palace

William appeared to be dishing out carrots and parsnips when he congratulated one client on getting engaged.

The man, wearing a Boston Celtics basketball team Christmas jumper, asked William: “Have you heard, I’m getting married?” The Prince of Wales smiled and said: “I know, I did hear about that, and congratulations.”

William also chatted with people at the dinner tables, asking one man “is this place helping enough?” – he nodded as he responded.

Ending homelessness has been a long-term focus for the Prince, who has told how visiting shelters with his mother when he was a child left a deep and lasting impression and inspired his work.

In an ITV1 and ITVX documentary screened in October, he recalled playing chess and chatting with people during his first visit to The Passage when he was 11-years-old.

The Prince was followed for the Prince William: We Can End Homelessness programme during the first year of his Homewards initiative. The campaign aims to develop a blueprint for eradicating homelessness in all its forms.

The Prince jokes with a guest at the Christmas lunch – Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace

During the past year, Homewards teams in six UK locations – Newport, Lambeth, Belfast, Aberdeen, Sheffield and three neighbouring Dorset towns, Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch – have been building collaborations between the public, private and third sectors.

In a statement posted alongside the video on Sunday, Kensington Palace said: “A sincere thank you to all the @‌passagecharity volunteers working tirelessly to support those experiencing homelessness, especially during the festive season.

“Acts of kindness, like serving Christmas lunches, brings hope and fosters a sense of community for those who need it most.”