Prince William handed humiliating blow after gesture proves 'abject failure'

Prince William has been handed a humiliating blow after an "abject failure". Prince William has faced criticism this week over an ITV documentary, which saw Kensington Palace grant behind-the-scenes access to filmmakers from the channel.

The documentary shows the prince making an effort to continue his mother Princess Diana's legacy by trying to eradicate homelessness. But writing in i News, Marianne Levy said: "For if homelessness in the UK is to end, we need to know why it is at an all-time high.

"We need to know about cutbacks to social services, how the NHS is struggling to provide frontline care, the burden on GPs (general practitioners). We need to know about investment in and the building of social housing.

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"Of these issues, and the many more that have contributed to the crisis William has announced his intention to solve, there was nothing. It made for dismal television. The contributors talked of hope, but what this documentary was missing was anger.

"William is clearly committed to his cause, but he simply cannot galvanise his audience at the ballot box, in the workplace, and in the wider social arena to fix this inhumane problem once and for all. As an hour of factual television that was supposed to prove it is possible to end homelessness, this documentary was an abject failure."

In a three-star review, the Guardian was more warm. It wrote: "William seems to grasp the complexity of homelessness and be keen to dismantle people’s assumptions and judgments. Best of all he seems, from the glimpses we get of them, to be surrounding himself with good, experienced people and not be intimidated by them or their greater knowledge."

The review went on, adding: "So let’s let him just start. The question of who will if he doesn’t, though, should occupy us still."