Prince William Meets Woman Who Lost Her Father and Her Partner and Admits He Wouldn't Have 'Come Out the Other Side Like You'

11/21/2024 11:38 AM

The Prince of Wales' comments on Nov. 20 follow a "brutal" year that saw his own father and partner both diagnosed with cancer

After his own father and partner received cancer diagnoses this year, Prince William told a young woman who lost her father and partner that he would not have coped as well as she had.

The Prince of Wales, 42, was in Newport, Wales on Nov. 20 to hear about Newport's efforts to tackle homelessness, particularly for women. While there, The Telegraph reported, he met a woman named Rebecca, who William said had been through more than most people "in their entire lifetime."

While at support service The Nelson Trust, Rebecca told William that she had been in foster care and was living on the streets at 16 before attempting suicide following the deaths of both her father and her partner. Rebecca, now 32, told William that she wanted to use her own life experiences to help other "lost teenagers."

"You seem like a force of nature, Rebecca," William told her, adding that she should be "so proud" of herself.

"We need more Rebeccas in the world. You have been through more things than most people go through in their entire lifetime. I'm not sure I would have come out the other side like you."

Prince William's comments come amid a year that saw both his father, King Charles, and his wife, Kate Middleton, each be diagnosed with cancer following a procedure in January — the King's for a benign enlarged prostate, and the Princess of Wales for a planned abdominal surgery.

Buckingham Palace announced Charles' cancer diagnosis on Feb. 5, the same day he began treatment, which continues. Kate announced her diagnosis on March 22, and, nearly six months later, said that she completed chemotherapy on Sept. 9.

While neither Charles, 76, nor Kate, 42, have received the type or stage of their cancer, the palace clarified earlier this year that the King does not have prostate cancer, following his procedure in January.

Related: Prince William Breaks Silence on 'Brutal' 2024 amid Kate Middleton and King Charles' Cancer Diagnoses: 'Hardest Year in My Life'

In an interview earlier this month at the close of his Earthshot Prize's trip to Cape Town, South Africa, William called 2024 "brutal" and the "hardest year" of his life.

"It's been dreadful," he said on Nov. 7, adding, "But I'm so proud of my wife, I'm proud of my father, for handling the things that they have done. But from a personal family point of view, it's been, yeah, it's been brutal."

Newport — one of six locations that Prince William chose to launch his Homewards initiative, aimed at making homelessness "rare, brief and unrepeated" — has identified women's homelessness as a key issue because of rising numbers, specifically among those who face multiple issues like trauma, poverty and domestic abuse.

While meeting with business leaders and charity representatives, The Telegraph reported that William said he wanted them to throw off the "shackles" of their experience and take a different approach.

"I say that not to belittle you," the future king said. "But it, how do we break it down, gives you the freedom to think differently and try new things?"

"I can be the slight disruptor here and say to you all to think very differently, outside the box, because this is unique, what you're doing … let's be really ambitious and almost throw the paperwork up in the air and see how it lands."

Related: Prince William's Work with the Unhoused Reinforces the Need to 'Humanize People Who Are Experiencing Homelessness'

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Sabrina Cohen-Hatton, a fire chief who was once homeless as a teen, met up with William on Nov. 20 in Newport and introduced him to several unhoused women at a private meeting in the city.

"It was a really powerful visit. We visited a provision that is really focused on women's experience of homelessness," she said. "As we know, women's experience of homelessness is very different to men's — that's not to diminish men's experience in any way, shape or form."

For example, unhoused women are more likely to be "hidden" for fear of rough sleeping, a term used for sleeping outside or in places not typically used for sleeping, like cars and abandoned buildings. 

"We present differently, so figures are skewed and access to support are skewed," Cohen-Hatton said. "Women might face exploitation, sexual and domestic violence and the trauma that is wrapped around women's experience of homelessness. And it needs a different fix."