The Royal family are reportedly offering support and providing accommodation to Ukrainian families who have been forced to flee their homeland.
Members of the Royal family have vowed to "do their bit" and are housing refugees, but have "no wish" for publicity for doing so, the Daily Express reports. Some 53,800 Ukrainian refugees have arrived in the UK under visa schemes, including the Homes for Ukraine programme, amounting to just over half of the number of visas granted.
More than 14 million Ukrainians are thought to have fled their home since the beginning of Russia's invasion of their country, with a number of European countries taking in refugees varying from a few thousand to millions. More than three million Ukrainians have fled to Poland, while 700,000 have been accepted by Germany.
READ MORE: Supermarket items which have soared by 20 per cent named by Which?
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson has confirmed to the Express that the Royal family are helping, but will not expand on the level of help they are providing. They said: “We are assisting in a number of ways but will not be commenting further.”
It is not know which royals are housing refugees, or where the accommodation is being provided - but the palace has been contacted for further information.
This is not the first time the Royal family have offered support to those fleeing wars, with the palace being used to house royal refugees of the Second World War. These royal refugees include Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and Norway's King Haakon and his son, Prince Olaf, who fled from the Nazis in 1940.
The Prince of Wales said last month that he hopes Britain is welcoming to the Ukrainian refugees following an "emotional" meeting with the families who have fled Vladimir Putin's invasion. Prince Charles made the comments on April 28 while visiting the World Jewish Relief (WRJ) charity in north London, which has sent food, money, and medicine to Ukraine.
Charles has been a patron of the group since 2015, and has made a financial contribution to the charity's Ukrainian efforts - but the sum has not been made public. Charles and Camilla also met members of the Ukrainian community in Ottawa, Canada, during their tour of the country earlier this week.
In that meeting, the Duchess of Cornwall told a family who fled from Lutsk - leaving their father behind to fight for his country- that "we are so behind you."
Meanwhile, Ukraine's President Volodymyr thanked the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at the start of March after they expressed their solidarity with the people of his homeland. The leader said he was "grateful" to the couple after they tweeted that they stood with “the President and all of Ukraine’s people as they bravely fight” for their future on February 27.
The reports of the Royals helping to house Ukrainian refugees comes days after the minister in charge of Homes for Ukraine called for the scheme to become a model for how the UK deals with refugee crises in the future. Lord Harrington, who was placed in charge of the programme in March, told an audience in Westminster on Thursday: “My vision is for this system to be a permanent part of Government, so that when refugee crises happen – and unfortunately they do all the time – we have a machinery.”
He added: “We’ve got lots of goodwill, we’ve got this machinery of Government in place – it’s not perfect but it’s improving day by day – and I hope it will become a permanent part of how this country deals with refugees.”
The programme has received some criticism, however, especially regarding the length of time it takes for the refugees to reach the UK and the fact that some Ukrainians have reportedly been made homeless after falling out with their hosts.
