Prince William Hits the Streets
British Prince Trades Palace for the Street
Ok, I know we all love the gossipy type of celeb news. What’s better than living vicariously through the stars we love, or love to hate? Their lives are just chock full of so much more drama than we can wrap our heads around, that our attention is immediately drawn to them to see the train wreck they could very well become.
However, I must say that I always find it a welcome change to hear about celebrities trying to use their fame for good. Granted, their motives for doing so might not always be the most sincere, but as long as they’re doing something moderately beneficial to others, I can’t judge them too harshly.
One celebrity that I feel has the right motives behind his most recent act of humanitarianism is Britain’s Prince William. Now, I know that being a future political figure puts Prince William in a different position than Hollywood stars, but considering that the Prince has been followed by the media since childhood and has been swooned over by girls around the globe, it’s fair to say that he’s as much a celebrity as our film big shots.
That being said, it was nice to hear about Prince William’s night spent on the streets of London.
The Prince has been a main supporter of Centrepoint, a homeless charity in London, and last week he put himself in the shoes of the people the charity helps. Prince William traded in the luxury of palace life to spend a night sleeping on the ground behind some garbage bins near Blackfriars Bridge. Prince William had been planning the outing since March, and on December 15th, in 39 degree weather, the young royal experienced what it’s like to have nowhere else to go.
Even while experiencing sleeping on the streets firsthand, Prince William isn’t naive and realizes that one night can hardly show him what being homeless is really like, but feels that his experience made him more aware of the issue of homelessness, and hopes to use that awareness to do something to help those in need of homes.
The Prince told press after the experience, “I cannot, after one night, even begin to imagine what it must be like to sleep rough on London’s streets night after night…I hope that by deepening my understanding of the issue, I can help do my bit to help the most vulnerable on our streets.”
It seems the Prince is taking after his mother, the late Princess Diana of Wales. The Princess was also a patron of Centrepoint, and took her sons to visit one of their shelters when Prince William was just 13. Princess Diana gained international recognition during her life for her charity work, and she worked especially close with the homeless.
In addition to his growing charity involvement, Prince William is also training to be a search-and-rescue pilot for the Royal Air Force. He’s second in line for the British throne.
Source: Yahoo! News
