Prince William dragged into royal hypocrisy row with latest move

The programme will follow Prince William, 42, during the first year of his Homewards initiative, which aims to address all forms of homelessness.

Asked about his drive to stem the issue, William said: “I think it’s really important that we can try and change, and tackle, the narrative around homelessness.

“People live with it, we see it every day in our lives, that’s something I want to challenge.”

However, the anti-monarchy group Republic took to social media to complain about the royal documentary.

The organisation wrote: "The monarchy costs us half a billion a year. They lounge around in lavish palaces.

"But don't worry, William is going to lecture us about how he's going to 'end homelessness'. #NotMyKing #AbolishTheMonarchy".

Many social media users agreed, with one replying: "This family has a vast number of properties.

"The most meaningful change they could make is to start a movement to end people having multiple homes which stand unused - and lead by example."

Another wrote: "Watch what he does. Not what he says."

However, several of William's fans came to the royal's defence.

Soon on @ITV and @ITVX, some guy you might have heard of - talks about homelessness and why he wants to do something about it… 👇 pic.twitter.com/bHEFFhvFWX

— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) October 5, 2024

For example, one said: "Lies! The monarchy doesn’t cost us half a billion a year at all!

"We actually make a profit from the Royal Family - as we get more in revenue from the Crown Estate than is required to fund it! If you don’t like our system - you don’t have to stay in it - feel free to leave!"

Meanwhile, someone else commented: "You need to do some research. Publicly available. The Royal Family cost each taxpayer just under a pound per year.

"The Royal Family bring in about £1.4billion annually for the economy. If you have an idea on how to get that return for 99p please enlighten us all."

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Prince William's upcoming documentary features a senior fire officer taking a former long-term homeless man to meet the royal and tell his story.

A 22-second video, shared on social media, said the programme "Prince William: We Can End Homelessness" will be coming soon to ITV and ITVX.

Diana, Princess of Wales used to take the young royal and his brother Prince Harry to homeless shelters to broaden their horizons.

The father-of-three launched his Homewards initiative last year to help develop bespoke solutions to homelessness.