Homeless a famous hug.. and my happy ever after

Brave Brian met Prince William at centre that helped save him

- SIMON MURPHY

A MAN Prince William embraced at a homeless charity was once so desperate he lived at a garage and washed under a tap meant for cars.

Brian Ward turned his life around with help from The Passage charity and he even met his future wife there.

His remarkable survival story is shared here in the third part of our series investigating homelessness and discovering what is being done to tackle it across the country.

Brian appears with Prince William at The Passage in episode one of the recentlyaired two-part ITV series Prince William: We Can End Homelessness. In it, he introduces the royal to his other half, Sarah Bisholo. The engaged couple saw the royal again this month during a visit to the London-based charity, which tackles homelessness.

But they have not always rubbed shoulders with royalty - far from it.

Brian, 66, originally from Northern Ireland, told us he discovered the charity about two decades ago.

He had moved to London with his wife and daughter and got short-term work as a scaffolder but recalled arguing with his wife one night.

Brian said she told him she was going to Ireland for a couple of days. "So next day I went to work and come back, she was gone," he explained.

"The place was all locked up.

And I had nowhere to go."