Prince William is celebrating 20 years since he took over as royal patron of Centrepoint, the homelessness charity that was formerly championed by Princess Diana. The Prince of Wales visited Centrepoint's new London offices on Tuesday, December 9, to mark the occasion, and during the event he admitted that there's one royal hobby he's not exactly inherited.
Despite being very different personality-wise, King Charles inherited his father Prince Philip's talent at painting and has been a passionate artist throughout his life. The King is especially fond of watercolors, like his dad, and used to paint while he was on royal tours. But it seems Prince William hasn't picked up the royal painting gene, as he revealed during his visit to Centrepoint.
The Prince of Wales was asked to contribute to the "Wall of Hope" mural co-designed by a group of young people and artist Lanré Olagoke MBE. In a video shared by Cameron Walker of GB News on Instagram, William picked up a paintbrush and got to work. When asked by the artist if he ever painted, the prince joked, "I have painted. You don't want to see what it looks like."
"It's not a good outcome!" William added as he painted the center of a heart in the mural.
One member of his family who has inherited the artistic gene is Prince George. In 2022, the Prince and Princess of Wales shared an impressive painting of a reindeer drawn by George, who was only nine at the time, to celebrate the holidays.
“Happy Christmas! 🎨 by George,” the caption read on X.
Princess Kate is also an amateur artist and holds a degree in art history from the University of St Andrews, where she met Prince William. In 2021, the Princess of Wales revealed a beautiful sketch of St Andrews she drew in 2002 and used on a thank you card the couple sent after a 2021 visit to Scotland.
As for the rest of his visit to Centrepoint, the Prince of Wales cut a huge three-tiered cake with the number "20" on it to mark his anniversary as patron. "It's an amazing moment to think of 20 years how much has kind of changed and been achieved by all of you and the Centrepoint family is one I'm very proud to be a part of," William said after cutting the cake.
He paid tribute to the staff and volunteers who work with the charity, praising the "hard work every day you give to help other people, it's fantastic."
Prince William became patron of the homelessness organization in 2005, when he was just 23. Since then, the prince has made preventing homelessness a key part of his royal work.
Along with launching the Homewards program through the Royal Foundation to help fight homelessness across the U.K., Prince William officially opened the Centrepoint Helpline, which has now supported its 50,000 caller since it launched eight years ago.
