Prince William has given an awkward "non-answer" after being asked why he does not open up royal palaces to homeless people.
The Prince of Wales is launching a mysterious new project he hopes will have a "tangible impact" and help improve people's lives up and down the country.
William said he is also trying his best to teach his children Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis about homelessness - for example, having conversations during their school run when they see rough sleepers in the street.
And while admitting he is "one of the most unlikely advocates for this cause", William said he knows how important raising awareness of homelessness is - just as his mum Princess Diana did when she took him and Prince Harry to a homeless shelter in London.
But during an interview with The Sunday Times, William, who know also controls the Duchy of Cornwall, a 130,000-acre property empire stretching from Cornwall to Kent, was asked whether there are any plans to use those palaces for the homeless.
The newspaper's Royal Editor, Roya Nikkhah, said William gave her "an eloquent non-answer" before she asked him again: "So there are no duchy plans yet for affordable housing?"
After a short pause, William said: "Absolutely. Social housing. You'll see that when it's ready. I'm no policy expert, but I push it where I can."
It comes as the dad-of-three announced his mission to end homelessness in the UK and that, inspired by his mother's compassion, he is preparing to launch a "really big project" to tackle the issue - which remains a closely guarded secret.
Earlier this week he officially opened Reuben House, a block of 33 studio properties in south-east London where rents are set at a third of a resident's income, on behalf of the charity.
Explaining how he is teaching his children about the issue, he said: "On the school run, we talk about what we see.
"When we were in London, driving backwards and forwards, we regularly used to see people sitting outside supermarkets and we’d talk about it.
"I'd say to the children, ‘Why are they there? What's going on?’ I think it's in all our interests, it's the right thing to do, to expose the children, at the right stage, in the right dialogue, so they have an understanding.
"They [will] grow up knowing that actually, do you know what, some of us are very fortunate, some of us need a little bit of a helping hand, some of us need to do a bit more where we can to help others improve their lives."
It was also revealed that William engaged in work on the ground with homeless charity The Passage and even flew under the radar during the coronavirus pandemic to help deliver food to those without a home.
Mick Clarke, chief executive of the Passage, said William "does an awful lot where there aren5't cameras".
He added: "That's what he enjoys the most, because he's meeting real people, hearing real stories, it's what has formulated his plans. When he comes here, nothing's sugar-coated, nothing is sanitised. People on the streets are very good about knowing whether someone is authentic or not within a second. He is very authentic."
Clarke said that a masked-up, socially distanced William made three visits to the Passage in November 2020, meeting residents and helping prepare meals for their emergency food hub that delivered meals to homeless people.
