Prince William today made a secret visit to serve Christmas dinner at a homeless charity – and was described as a ‘legend’ by one of those he met.
Leo Scanlon, 39, who is himself a customer of The Passage in London, said the future king spent more than an hour serving vegetables while wearing an apron, chatting and posing for selfies with about a hundred people being served by charity.
Although the visit was not pre-announced and no members of the media were present, Leo contacted the Daily Mail because he wanted to ‘thank William from the bottom of my heart for what he did’.
He said: ‘When you’re homeless you quickly fall to the margins of society and it’s scary how you can become invisible. We become street furniture. You are not seen as a person. When someone at the top of the game comes down and talks to someone at the bottom, not for a photo opportunity, just because they care. Well, it means a lot.”
Leo said there had been ‘murmurs’ that the prince would attend the annual Christmas lunch for The Passage, a charity he was first introduced to as a child by his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales and of which he is now a patron .
But he said the royal family arrived without fanfare around 1:30 p.m. and walked quietly through a side gate, and many did not know he was there until he began serving.
‘The Passage canteen can be quite a hostile environment at times, there are a lot of people with mental health problems, or who don’t speak English and get frustrated. This is quite difficult in a small space. But the way he handled it when he came in was amazing,” he said.
‘He was so nice and polite and spoke to everyone and posed for selfies.
‘When I was talking to him I was so overwhelmed that I accidentally swore and he put his ear to my mouth and whispered, ‘Don’t worry, my language is terrible!’ .’
On Thursday, William, 42, returned to The Passage – which he first visited with his mother Princess Diana when he was 11 – to take part in the charity’s annual Christmas meal for the second year in a row.
Photos obtained by the Mail show the Prince of Wales carefully piling roasted vegetables onto plates during his hour-long shift at the Westminster-based charity that holds a special place in his heart.
Prince William became a patron of The Passage in February 2019, after first visiting the charity in 1993 with his mother, Princess Diana
Leo said he told William he was wearing his favorite Spice Girls t-shirt for him when he met Victoria Beckham at the state banquet recently, which made him laugh.
“He was talking to everyone and telling them Merry Christmas and to take care of them and stay safe,” he said.
“People just came up and talked to him and he was fine. People called him William and he had no charisma and grace. He has a power within him. A bomb could have gone off in the corner and he wouldn’t have noticed. He just looked you in the eyes and you had his full attention. He listened and was very respectful. He really meant it.
‘There were police, but they weren’t really on duty, they didn’t round everyone up. It was very relaxed.
‘Prince William served the food. They gave him boring vegetables and I’m sure they did, so we all ate our vegetables!
‘A man with facial tattoos tried to talk to him while the prince was serving his food and the man moved on so the next person could get his, but William realized he wanted to talk to him. So when he finished serving us food, he stopped what he was doing and tried to look for the guy with the face tattoo, but he had started looking for a fag, so the Prince continued what he was doing was busy, but kept looking for him.
‘The staff tried to get the prince to move on to the next thing, but William wouldn’t go until he could sit down and talk to this man with facial tattoos.
‘The way Prince William spoke to all of us, but especially to this man, meant a lot and was so genuine. He wasn’t trying to have his picture taken to look good, he really cared about what the man had to say.”
In what is becoming a holiday ritual, the father of three also made a surprise appearance at The Passage’s Christmas party last December
Father-of-three William appeared deep in conversation with one of the guests at the 2023 Christmas meal
A young Prince William beamed with his mother, Princess Diana, during their visit to The Passage in 1993
The footage is included in a new ITV documentary Prince William: We Can End Homelessness which was released in October
When asked why he decided to speak to the Mail and share his photos, Leo said: ‘I feel like I wanted someone like you to comment on how genuine, how sweet he was, and how Prince William was so kind and seemed genuinely interested in talking to everyone.
“I didn’t know if it was even worth emailing you, but I felt like I wanted people to know that when he says he’s committed to ending homelessness, I really believe him and I think he has the best chance of anyone to get it done.”
The prince is a year into a five-year programme, called Homewards, to eradicate homelessness in six key areas in Britain, hoping it will provide a blueprint nationwide.
In a recent television documentary on the issue, the royal family – who has made it clear that the issue is a lifelong project for him – said: ‘Why else would I be here if I am not using this role well to influence and influence the government? to help? people where I can?’