Prince William reveals why the Royal Family do charity work

Prince William has said doing charity work is not an "optional extra" for the Royal Family.

The future King said his family do not support charity because “it looks good” but because they believe it is essential to “sustain our society.”

He also praised his late mother, Princess Diana, and father, Prince Charles, for instilling in him the importance of charity work - which he said he is now passing on to his own children, George and Charlotte.

Speaking at the Charity Commission Annual Public Meeting at the Royal Institute, London he said, “I thought I’d start with something personal - a tribute to my parents.

“Some of my earliest memories relate to times that my parents spoke to me or - even better - showed me what it meant to have both privilege and responsibilities.

“I remember being taken by my mother to a homelessness shelter at a young age, her explaining to me why the people I met there matter; why no society can be healthy unless we take other people seriously,” he said.

Praising his father, who in the last decade alone has helped a number of charities raise more than £1 billion, William said: “From [him], I learned how central charity was to his life his sense of purpose.

“The Prince’s Trust is not an arms-length organisation for my father. He cares deeply about it because it is a living projection of his values.

“As a young child, I recall evening after evening my father's diligence and compassion as he applied himself to answering thousands of letters and reading endless reports in order to stay on top of his ambition to do all he could to help the underprivileged.

“Without my realising it, what my parents were doing was instilling in me and Harry a lifelong habit to put charity at the heart of our lives.

“My father, of course, had inherited this very same habit from his parents. My grandfather Prince Philip has been one of the most tireless public servants of this country, deeply committed to helping young people fulfil their potential.

“My grandmother The Queen has never given a Christmas broadcast without paying tribute to charitable organisations, volunteers and people who care for others.

“My family have not done this because it looks good - they do it because charity is not an optional extra in society.

“We believe that, above anything else, charities nurture, repair, build and sustain our society. Without the work that charities do, society would be an empty shell.

“It goes without saying that my family are not unique in this belief, and nor are these beliefs new. Charities have been actively supported by the Royal Family since at least the reign of George III.

He told the audience that he had been been encouraged of late by examples of real willingness to work together elsewhere in the sector.

“The seven charities of varying size and clientele who, with the help of the Charity Commission, came together to support the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire.

Their collaboration has undoubtedly done much to ease the unimaginable pain of that community,” he said.