The Prince of Wales putting the focus back on causes close to his heart makes a big impression as he announces bold new initiatives in his homelessness campaign

He may have been highlighting one of his major projects, but the Prince of Wales's thoughts were with his wife when he joined a conference about homelessness in Sheffield, and brought up the Princess's work to support early years development when the topic came up.

- By Emily Nash

Holding out his palms and smiling, he said: "Venturing into my wife's territory here. She needs to be sat here to hear this."

Prince William was speaking before news broke of his wife's cancer diagnosis and he was determined to put the focus back on his own work, after weeks of speculation about Kate's health. He met with the Homewards Sheffield Local Coalition at the city's Millennium Gallery, where he posed for selfies and talked to a former rough sleeper.

46 The Prince discusses moves to combat homelessness with the Homewards Sheffield Local Coalition and (right) shares a laugh with campaigner Kwajo Tweneboa at the city's Learning Zone, where he announced a major partnership to help people set up new homes

After hearing from project worker Chris Lynam about how he had experienced homelessness and time in jail, the Prince said: "I want to say how brave you are to be here telling your story. It's amazing where you are."

He also asked the experts for their opinions on the extent of family homelessness in Sheffield and the impact of drug addiction on rough sleeping.

Chris said afterwards: "He was a nice man and really listened. I liked him."

BOLD NEW STEPS