Prince William dons an apron and cooks up a storm during visit to homelessness charity The Passage for their Christmas dinner

• The Prince of Wales, 41, joined the London-based charity for Christmas lunch
• READ MORE: Prince William says visits he made to homeless charity Passage with Princess Diana as a child left a ‘deep and lasting impression’ and praises their work as ‘life-changing’ 

The Prince of Wales made a surprise appearance at the Christmas party of a charity that means an awful lot to him this year.

William, 41, popped down to The Passage, a homeless charity in London which he first visited with his mother Princess Diana in the 1990s, to take part in the charity’s Christmas meal.

In a heartwarming video posted on Twitter, the royal father-of-three, dressed in a festive green jumper, puts on his apron and gets stuck in with preparing food in the kitchen – sprouts and all.

He also sticks around to serve turkey and all the trimmings to people who have come to The Passage, of which he is patron, to enjoy their Christmas dinner, before joining them while they eat.

William’s surprise visit to the London-based charity comes as he vows to ramp up his work in ending homelessness across the UK – something he has promised this year.

Prince William, 41, visited homelessness charity The Passage, based in London, to join staff and people who use the charity’s services for Christmas dinner

It also comes after Kensington Palace released another slick video of his wife, Kate, 41, and children George, 10, Charlotte, eight, and Louis, five, joining another charity ahead of Christmas, as they helped out at a baby bank in Windsor.

Earlier this year the Prince of Wales announced a £3 million fund to tackle homelessness in the UK – with the ambitious plan to bring it to an ‘end’ within five years.

Through his Royal Foundation’s charitable arm, he is funding six projects in flagship locations around the country.

During his visit, the Prince of Wales donned an apron and chatted to kitchen staff as he helped them prepare

Royal father-of-three William sat down to eat with people at the charity after he had spent time preparing the meal

The Prince of Wales appeared to share a joke with one gentleman who had been invited to the Christmas party

Wheres your hat, William? As dinner guests donned their festive paper hats from Christmas crackers, the royal shook hands with them

Yes chef! Prince William chatted to chefs in the kitchen at The Passage as he took instructions on what to do

The Prince of Wales looked festive in a green jumper paired with his apron

They will bring together local stakeholders, experts and even house builders to eradicate rough sleeping, ‘sofa surfing’ and temporary hostels and bring about substantive change.

As a member of the Royal Family, William acknowledges his critics may question why someone from such a privileged background believes they can solve such a widespread issue.

Figures suggest more than 300,000 people – nearly half of whom are children – are homeless, whether living on the streets, in cars, or hostels and other types of temporary accommodation.

The royal’s first visit to The Passage was when he was 11 years old; and he visited a shelter run by the charity with Princess Diana and Prince Harry.  

He has been involved with several organisations working in the field ever since, including Centrepoint and The Big Issue. Now the 41-year-old heir to the throne believes he can use his unique convening power as a member of the Royal Family to bring together coalitions of individuals, organisations and businesses to work together based on specific local needs.

The programme, run by his Royal Foundation, will be known as ‘Homewards’.

Launching the ambitious plan in June, he said: ‘In a modern and progressive society, everyone should have a safe and secure home, be treated with dignity and given the support they need. Through Homewards, I want to make this a reality and over the next five years, give people across the UK hope that homelessness can be prevented when we collaborate.

‘It’s a big task, but I firmly believe that by working together it is possible to make homelessness rare, brief and unrepeated.’

Last week, William was spotted out and about once again selling copies of The Big Issue as he spent the afternoon in a London supermarket with a seller of the magazine Dave Martin, 61. 

His visit to Tesco with Dave followed a similar trip out with the Big Issue vendor back in 2022 to mark the future King’s 40th birthday.

On that occasion, William sold 32 copies of the Big Issue in less than an hour as he spent the day on the streets of Victoria, London.

He also wrote for the magazine, explaining he wanted to shine a light on the issue of homelessness, recalling when he first visited a homeless shelter with his mother, the Princess of Wales. He added that Diana, ‘in her own inimitable style, was determined to shine a light on an overlooked, misunderstood problem’.

He even said he plans to take his children Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, eight, and Prince Louis, five, to see the work of ‘fantastic’ organisations he works with ‘just as my mother did for me’.

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