Prince William just showed up to Tesco for an important reason

Prince William, Prince of Wales visits Bournemouth AFC's Vitality Stadium to hear about the Premier League football club's work within the community to support those at risk of homelessness and their commitment to extend this work over the next five years as part of the Homewards programme.

Prince William definitely shocked Tesco shoppers this week when he showed up outside the shop — but his reason for doing so won't surprise royal fans.

The Prince of Wales headed to the big Tesco in Hammersmith on Tuesday, where he joined Big Issue vendor Dave Martin in selling copies of the magazine, whose proceeds go towards helping those living in poverty. The Prince donned the uniform, consisting of a bright red "Big Issue" branded gilet and baseball hat.

William has actually already worked with Dave in the past, when he helped him sell the charity magazine back in 2022.

This time, Will and Dave reportedly exchanged some Christmas cheer, for 'tis the season after all.

A source told The Sun: "He decided he wanted to go see Dave and swap Christmas cards and they sold The Big Issue together."

Writing on Twitter about his day at Tesco, William said: "Great to be back with Dave, selling the latest edition of the @BigIssue once again!"

Great to be back with Dave, selling the latest edition of the @BigIssue once again! Find your nearest vendor this festive season: https://t.co/4Gauhs9Hgy pic.twitter.com/BEtDn0HwakDecember 5, 2023

The first time he helped sell the magazine,William shared a video montage of it on Instagram, writing: "The @bigissueuk’s impact goes far beyond the thousands of vendors whose lives it supports.

"I was eleven when I first visited @passagecharity with my mother and since then, homelessness has stuck with me as an issue I want to fight for.

"I have always believed in using my platform to help bring attention and action to those who are struggling and I commit to doing what I can to shine a spotlight on this solvable issue not just today, but in the months and years to come."

A post shared by The Prince and Princess of Wales

A photo posted by princeandprincessofwales on

Fighting homelessness and poverty is one of William's main missions: as such, he is patron of a number of related charities such as Centrepoint and The Passage.

This past summer, he also launched a project called Homewards, which "will aim to demonstrate that together it’s possible to end homelessness — making it rare, brief and unrepeated."