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Prince William reveals 'crucial' skill he makes sure three kids practice


The Prince of Wales appeared in Lambeth where he visited Spiral Skills, a youth organisation that works closely with William's foundation, Homewards


Prince William sitting in suit© Getty Images
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Emily NashRoyal Editor - London
September 9, 2025
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The Prince of Wales said he is making sure his children are learning to play instruments because music is "crucial". But the heir to the throne turned down the opportunity to play the drums on a visit to a music charity, saying his son Prince Louis would have done if he had been there. Asked by 16-year-old Django Brooke whether he wanted to play, Prince William laughed and replied:  "I'm definitely not a drummer. I'm happy to see you do it, if my youngest was here, he'd have a go, because he's practicing at the moment, but I'd love to hear you do it. But thank you for asking."

William popped into the music studio during a visit to The Oasis Village in Tulse Hill, south London, where he was hearing more about the work of Spiral Skills, a youth organisation in Lambeth, which has expanded its services in the community hub thanks to a grant from his Homewards Fund. Applauding after hearing Django perform, he said, laughing, "And that's why you play, and I don't!"

The Prince told the young musicians taking part in a workshop, "It's brilliant you guys have clearly done a lot of practising, well done, that's not easy doing that in front of everyone - that's brilliant. You've all got amazing rhythm and it sounds fantastic, I wish I started when I was your age. I couldn't read music so that was biggest weakness, I started off playing piano, trumpet and the drums and then realised I had to memorise every tune and it just fell away.

"I make sure my children learn music because I love music and it's crucial, really important." Prince George plays guitar, Princess Charlotte plays piano and Prince Louis plays drums, but Symphony Studios founder Seth Pinnock said of William: "He said he couldn’t play drums well. He said he had learned drums and learned keyboards but couldn’t read it… But his children are learning to play keys, so hopefully his kids will come here one day and learn."

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Symphony Studios joined the hub last October after former Gospel star Seth spent nine months sofa-surfing after coming out as a gay man. "We lost everything. I had a big charity and I was running around the UK and Europe touring. I came from a pretty conservative Christian background so coming out meant losing quite a bit. I became homeless for about nine months and then this place turned me in. I was able to rebuild the charity here and moved in on-site."

Symphony Studios now serves hundreds of young people with free music tuition each year, despite having lost two-thirds of its funding after Seth came out. Seth, who now lives in a flat above the Oasis Village’s main building, which was formerly a girls' school. He said of the Prince: "It's really important for him to shine a light on quite marginalised communities that need a sense of hope and possibility."

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Homewards' positive impact

Homewards provided an undisclosed sum to enable Spiral Skills to refurbish areas of the former school – now a multi-agency hub - and expand their services to reach more young people. During his visit, William paused to look at a photograph of his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, who opened the landmark building as school, St Martin's in the Fields, back in 1999.

He was also shown cameras and other equipment Spiral Skills members can access at the neighbouring youth-owned and run creative agency Young Creators UK. He was joined by Homewards Advocate and former England footballer Fara Williams and sat with Abdoul and another community Changemaker, Jhemar Jonas, 23, all of whom have lived experience of homelessness.

Prince William moving his hands around in a black suit© Getty Images
Homewards is a project close to William's heart that provides much-needed support to communities around the UK

Speaking afterwards, Fara said of the Prince: "Growing up as a young person, seeing the work that his Mum did for different charities was so empowering. And for him to follow in her footsteps and continue the great work, and do it his own way and be supportive, and knowledgeable about all these different areas of homelessness is great. He does have the power, he does have the funding that can help make the changes that we need."

William also chatted to Chloe Fernandez, a former pupil of the school where the hub is now housed, who was referred from Spiral Skills into YCUK after being made redundant last year. She said: "The future King [is] actually already putting in those little seeds with young people instead of having someone else tell him. And him coming and seeing it himself shows his humanity."

Earlier, William heard from community changemakers at Spiral Skills, who were formerly helped by the charity and are now trained youth workers supporting young people aged 14-25 at risk of exclusion of homelessness. Abdoul Ndami told the Prince how he had set up a youth programme at a local branch of McDonalds after being alerted to young people causing trouble there.

He said: "I talked some sense into them, 'if this was your mum's house you wouldn't want people to treat it this way, because a lot of them grew up with just their mum, which made it easier to resonate with them." The fast food branch had been on the brink of closing between 3pm and 7pm to prevent youths from hanging around, but Abdoul put together a programme there and created a safe space where young people can go and be fed and offered support. "You're like the fourth emergency service Abdoul," said the Prince.

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LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 9: Prince William, Prince of Wales and former professional footballer, Fara Williams (R) during a visit to Spiral Skills, a youth organisation in Lambeth who have received funding from the Homewards Fund to expand their services for young people in the local area, on September 9, 2025 in London, England. The Homewards Fund aims to support the delivery of work in the six Homewards flagship locations and offers up to £500,000 of flexible seed funding in each location. Spiral Skills was founded in 2015 and works with local schools, youth organisations, and authorities to provide early intervention, holistic support, employability skills, and access to employment and services for undeserved 1425-year-olds. (Photo by Ian Vogler - WPA Pool/Getty Images)© Getty Images

Prince William and footballer Fara Williams

Prince William and footballer Fara Williams during a visit to Spiral Skills, a youth organisation in Lambeth who have received funding from the prince's Homewards Fund.

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LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 9: Prince William, Prince of Wales during a visit to Spiral Skills, a youth organisation in Lambeth who have received funding from the Homewards Fund to expand their services for young people in the local area, on September 9, 2025 in London, England. The Homewards Fund aims to support the delivery of work in the six Homewards flagship locations and offers up to £500,000 of flexible seed funding in each location. Spiral Skills was founded in 2015 and works with local schools, youth organisations, and authorities to provide early intervention, holistic support, employability skills, and access to employment and services for undeserved 1425-year-olds. (Photo by Ian Vogler - WPA Pool/Getty Images)© Getty Images

The prince spent the morning with Spiral Skills, a youth organisation in Lambeth which has received funding from the prince's homelessness initiative Homewards.

Lambeth is one of six areas where Homewards will construct housing for vulnerable people facing homelessness.

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LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 9: Prince William, Prince of Wales and former professional footballer, Fara Williams (R) during a visit to Spiral Skills, a youth organisation in Lambeth who have received funding from the Homewards Fund to expand their services for young people in the local area, on September 9, 2025 in London, England. The Homewards Fund aims to support the delivery of work in the six Homewards flagship locations and offers up to £500,000 of flexible seed funding in each location. Spiral Skills was founded in 2015 and works with local schools, youth organisations, and authorities to provide early intervention, holistic support, employability skills, and access to employment and services for undeserved 1425-year-olds. (Photo by Ian Vogler - WPA Pool/Getty Images)© Getty Images

A cause close to the Prince's heart

The Prince launched Homewards in 2023. In an ITV documentary released last year, William revealed that he has discussed homelessness with his three children, George, Charlotte, and Louis on the school run. 

"The first few times I thought, do I bring this up? Or should I wait and see if any of them noticed? And sure enough, they did, and they were just sort of in silence after I had said what was going on 

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William meets with members of Homewards and Spiral Skills in Lambeth© Getty Images

William meets with members of Homewards and Spiral Skills in Lambeth

The prince also spoke with representatives from Spiral Steps and Homewards during his outing.

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LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 9: Prince William, Prince of Wales during a visit to Spiral Skills, a youth organisation in Lambeth who have received funding from the Homewards Fund to expand their services for young people in the local area, on September 9, 2025 in London, England. The Homewards Fund aims to support the delivery of work in the six Homewards flagship locations and offers up to £500,000 of flexible seed funding in each location. Spiral Skills was founded in 2015 and works with local schools, youth organisations, and authorities to provide early intervention, holistic support, employability skills, and access to employment and services for undeserved 1425-year-olds. (Photo by Ian Vogler - WPA Pool/Getty Images)© Getty Images

William's bustling week

The prince's return to work has already proven to be hectic with the royal evidently handling bustling calendar of royal engagements.

He appeared with his wife, the Princess of Wales, a week ago at the Natural History Museum in London and marked the anniversary of the late Queen's passing with a visit to the Sunningdale chapter of the Women's Institute (WI).

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