Prince William and Prince George both volunteered (Image: Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace)

Prince George got “stuck in” as he joined his father, the Prince of Wales, in volunteering at this year’s Passage Christmas party. It marks the first time the 12-year-old has visited the charity, which holds a deep personal significance to the future King as his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, introduced him to the homelessness charity when he was a similar age to George.

During their visit on Tuesday, the young prince added his name to the visitors book on the same page that his father and grandmother had signed on December 14, 1993. George was “fascinated” to see the names written in black-and-white and appeared overwhelmed to sign underneath them, saying: “Wow, Ok.”

Mick Clarke, chief executive of The Passage who welcomed George to the charity’s headquarters in Victoria, described the poignant visit as “a proud dad moment” for William and a chance to tell his eldest son: “That’s my mum”.

William first visited the shelter aged 11, and was one of a number of such engagements he made with his mother that he has said left a deep and lasting impression on him and inspired his campaign to end homelessness in the UK.

The prince now wants to educate his children on the major societal issue and highlight the important work carried out by organisations such as The Passage.

On Tuesday, father and son visited the charity’s headquarters in Victoria to support preparations for its annual Christmas lunch.

Mr Clarke, who showed the young prince around the St Vincent’s centre in central London, told George about their No Night Out campaign, which aims to prevent someone from spending even one night on the streets by offering early support.

He said: “I said, you know, your dad’s been involved with The Passage for many, many years. Your grandma took him to The Passage when he was about your age. And what you’re going to be doing today is helping us prepare for our Christmas lunch, which is a really important day because it’s for people who perhaps won’t have a place that they can call home this Christmas.

George helped prepare the Christmas lunch (Image: Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace)
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“I said, we’ve just got a number of different things for you to help us with. So, time to roll your sleeves up and get stuck in. He was well up for it. Absolutely. Very much like his dad in terms of he just wanted to crack on, which was lovely.”

George was shown to a room where he helped volunteers create care packages, which were later distributed to people unable to attend the lunch. The packages included around 30 items including £10 vouchers for high street bakery chain Greggs, toiletries, socks and snack bars.

The 12-year-old then helped to decorate a tree which had been donated to the charity from Westminster Abbey following the Princess of Wales’s Christmas carol service earlier in the month.

Mr Clarke, who has met Catherine before, said that there was a “nice synergy” to the fact that George was now helping to decorate a tree from his mother’s service. There was also an area where volunteers were decorating cupcakes for the pudding.

A volunteer had even provided some Aston Villa crackers for the table, in recognition of the football team William and George support.

William has visited The Passage many times (Image: Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace)

William introduced his eldest son to Sarah and Brian, a couple who met through The Passage after both were helped to find homes after rough sleeping. Now engaged, they plan to marry and have a wedding reception at the charity.

George listened as Sarah recalled how hard things were for them at one point, but The Passage has now become “our family” and they love coming back each Christmas.

In the kitchen, William was reunited with Claudette Dawkins[CORR], head chef at The Shelter, who has featured in a homelessness documentary with the prince.

Clarke said: “Again, that was absolutely lots of banter. William was doing the sprouts, putting them into big trays because they were going to be steamed. George was doing Yorkshire puddings and things.”

The future King, who volunteers at the Christmas meal each year, appeared very relaxed throughout the visit and readily got stuck in.

“He’s always very relaxed at The Passage,” Mr Clarke said. “It always kind of feels like a family, really. But it also, I think, shows how relaxed George was. And I think that was one of the nicest things. He clearly felt very comfortable and, you know, just really enjoyed cracking on and getting involved.”

Having spent around an hour helping to prepare for the Christmas party, William showed George the record of his first ever visit to The Passage and invited him to sign beneath their names.

Mr Clarke added: “It was a lovely moment where William was able to say to George ‘That’s my mum. And this was the very first day that she took me to the passage’. And it was a lovely moment in terms of almost coming full circle from 1993 to the end of 2025.

“And it felt a bit like a proud dad moment, I thought, which was really, really lovely to see, because William is incredibly genuine and authentic, passionate about this issue and loves the passage. And it just really felt that he was really proud to say, look, this is a place that I’m passionate about. I’m really pleased to be able to share that with you and show it to you.

“He [George] was fascinated with it. He was like, ‘Wow. OK’.”

George seemed happy to help out (Image: Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace)

While William and Kate’s younger two children were not mentioned during the visit, The Passage sent the princes away with three teddy bears, one for each child. William later sent food hampers containing cakes and other items to be distributed to the residential centres.

George is gradually being introduced to his future royal role, and this year has attended a number of high-profile events alongside his parents. This includes joining his mother and senior royals at the Festival of Remembrance last month, and attending a tea party with veterans to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day.