Prince William of the British Royal Family discusses his ongoing efforts to end the homelessness crisis in his new documentary, Prince William: We Can End Homelessness. With the cost of living skyrocketing in the U.K., many people are calling for radical action, and this documentary has led to one proposal aimed at the royal family.

The Big Issue, a magazine founded to provide jobs to those without housing, recently published an opinion piece on why the Prince of Wales should consider opening other royal residences, such as Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, to the growing homeless population.

“There is a huge, almost underutilized and very luxurious residence in central London,” the magazine wrote, adding, “The problem is that Buckingham Palace now belongs to the royal family.”

The Big Issue cited a Savanta poll conducted by Yahoo in 2023, which reported that 52 percent of respondents were in favor of the royal family opening Buckingham Palace to the homeless. According to Yahoo, the idea received a greater response in the 55-64 age group, with 44 percent of respondents in this age group “strongly opposed” to the idea.

The media outlet claimed that “Buckingham Palace alone could accommodate 1,974 studio apartments on 77,000 square meters” and “crunched the numbers,” but the idea is not so simple. Converting a building of such cultural and historical significance into apartments is an incredibly difficult idea to realize for many reasons.

The practical and logistical challenges of such an endeavor are immense when one considers security, staffing, and the taxes involved in renovating a historic royal residence for the homeless.

Also, while the media claims that Buckingham Palace is “rarely” used, the building serves as a royal administrative center, with office space, meeting rooms, and staff apartments.

The palace (along with other residences like Balmoral Castle) will not be open to the public for several months, but Prince Charles hopes to move to a more open model. Reports have been rife in recent years

that Buckingham Palace will be open to visitors year-round, with Balmoral Castle opening to the public for the first time this summer.

Prince William continues to “desperately try to help those in need,” as he states in his new documentary, but this does not seem to be one idea that will work in the prince's quest to end homelessness.