Prince William has said his mum Diana introduced him to the issue of homelessness when he was a child - and he is "really glad" she did.
The Prince of Wales, who is the Patron of two charities that work to tackle homelessness, Centrepoint and The Passage, appeared in a short film in last night's Comic Relief.
As he sat down with Nawshin and Miles, two people who had experienced homelessness, he said Diana was passionate about the issue and tried to pass her values onto him.
William explained: "My mother introduced me to the cause of homelessness from quite a young age, and I'm really glad she did."
However, he added his mum would be "disappointed" as there has not been much progress to tackle the issue.
The prince said: "I think she would be disappointed that we are still no further on in terms of tackling homelessness and preventing it than when she was interested and involved in it."
During the film, Miles said: "Homelessness is about not having a safe space - it's a very isolating life. You exist, you don't live.
"Groundswell helps to give a voice to people who have experienced homelessness. People who experience homelessness have solutions if you just ask them – they know what needs changing."
Nawshin added: "I didn't have a choice but to leave home - I had a lot of childhood trauma and circumstances happened around me that were out of my control.
"Coming to Groundswell and being supported to share my story has really helped me. It is powerful for people to actually listen."
Comic Relief has supported homelessness projects since 1988, and over the past two years, its funding has helped to support more than 31,000 people experiencing or at risk of homelessness to access safe accommodation and specialist support.
As an advocate of Centrepoint, the youth homelessness charity, Princess Diana even slept on the streets of London.
She often took her sons William and Harry to visit homeless shelters to prepare them in the hope they would develop a life-long passion for charity work.
Earlier this year, William said he found the issue of homeless "terrifying" during a visit to youth homeless charity Depaul UK.
After outreach staff told him how the pandemic had been a "major contributing factor" for hundreds of people accessing vital services, William vowed to make the issue a "key theme" of his public work this year.
After being welcomed by chief executive Mike Thiedke to the charity's London base in Bermondsey, south London, William joined a round table discussion with staff working across the country to help those affected.
William said: "There are a large number of services that you operate, so tell me a bit about how you identify who is at risk, how do you take them to the next step and how do they find what support can be provided."
Education coordinator Rebecca Baines said: "Some of the big issues that we face with young people is that when they think of homelessness they think of rough sleeping, so a lot of young people may be experiencing it but they might not realise it, sleeping on couches, staying with friends where they can, so it’s all about education, because a lot of young people won’t reach out before it is far too late.
"So once they realise that our services are relevant to them we are usually met with open arms and they realise we can help and support them."
The latest figures from last year showed there were 120,000 young people and children either at risk of homelessness or were homeless throughout the country.
The charity classifies young people as between 18 and 24 but works regularly with teenagers as young as 13.
