The Prince of Wales, 43, was thrown a party to mark the occasion and travelled to the organisation’s headquarters in east London.
Centrepoint holds a special place in the future King’s heart, as he took over patronage in 2005 from his mother, Princess Diana, who took him to a homeless shelter when he was just 11 years old.
During his visit today, he met staff and young people who have been helped by Centrepoint, which provides support and secure housing to help them build independent futures.
He was presented with a specially commissioned chocolate cake created by Juliet Sear, the This Morning star and royal baker famed for making the towering confection featured in the Bruce Bogtrotter scene in Netflix‘s Matilda the Musical in 2022.
The three-tiered purple and orange ‘ultimate chocolate brownie cake’ had the number ’20’ iced onto it, with Juliet using the same recipe she followed when creating Prince Harry’s 30th birthday cake, which was presented to him at the inaugural Invictus Games in 2014.
It will likely have gone down a treat with the Prince of Wales, who is known to be a chocoholic and very fond of the treat, revealing in an engagement with Kate in May that ‘I know my brownies’.
William, who was dressed in a navy suit, said today: ‘Many of you have been here many more years than that and it’s an amazing moment to think, in 20 years, how much has changed and been achieved by all of you.
Prince William cut a huge cake to mark 20 years as patron of youth homelessness charity Centrepoint today
A young Prince William is pictured visiting the Centrepoint Hostel for Homeless in Soho, London in 1996 with his mother, Princess Diana
‘The Centrepoint family is one I am very proud to be a part of and I can’t thank you all [enough] for all the hard work, every day, you give to help other people.
‘It’s fantastic, and that massive cake signifies the love and the generosity and the time you all give to helping other people, so make sure you take a piece.’
William also gamely picked up a paintbrush to help finish a new ‘Wall of Hope’ mural, co-designed by a group of young people and artist Lanré Olagoke MBE, who was himself homeless in the past, to celebrate Centrepoint’s journey and the charity’s ambition to end youth homelessness.
Joking as he filled in a red heart on the artwork, mounted on a wall at the offices, the prince said: ‘I have painted, but you don’t want to see what it looks like.’
The Prince was visiting the new premises for the first time since the charity moved there in the summer, to mark his two decades as patron.
William heard about some of the work the charity is doing, including a pilot prevention project called ‘Upstream’, which tries to identify schoolchildren at risk of becoming homeless and supporting their families. The prince described as ‘a gamechanger’.
He also met staff and young people who have won special Centrepoint awards, including Ellie, 23, who has been given an Independent Living award.
Having spent time sofa surfing, she now has a full-time job in marketing and, for the past three years, has lived at Reuben House in Peckham, which William opened in 2023 as part of the charity’s Independent Living Programme, which caps rent for working young people.