The Duchess of Cambridge will sleep rough in London for a night to highlight the capital's homeless problem. Kate will join Loose Women star and Centrepoint ambassador Lisa Maxwell on the Sleep Out campaign, following in the footsteps of her husband Prince William. The future King, who is patron of the homelessness charity, spent a night on the streets for the organisation in 2009.
Lisa said the Duchess agreed to take part after they got chatting at a Centrepoint reception recently. "I work with Centrepoint and William’s our patron. We had a little do and they both came down," said the 48-year-old. "She asked me about sleeping out, so I said: 'Next time I do it, you're doing it with me. No excuses, he's done it.' She said: 'You're on'." William said he benefited from the experience when he spent a night on the streets in the run up to Christmas three years ago. He bedded down next to wheelie bins under Blackfriars Bridge with Centrepoint chief executive, Seyi Obakin, and his private secretary, Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton. The group almost got run over by a roadsweeper during the night. Seyi explained: "For me, it was a scary experience. Out of my comfortable bed. Out there in the elements. Out there on an extremely cold night, with temperatures down to -4C. "And it was the same for Prince William. But he was determined to do it as patron in order to raise awareness of the problem and to be able to understand a little better what rough sleepers go through night after night.
"We took as much precaution as possible – finding a relatively secluded spot in an alleyway, shielded partly by a collection of wheelie bins. "But there was no shielding from the bitter cold, or the hard concrete floor, or the fear of being accosted by drug dealers, pimps or those out to give homeless people a 'good kicking'."St James’ Palace said at the time: "Prince William took away from the experience the importance of tackling all the issues that cause people to be homeless and stay homeless, from drug dependency to mental health problems."
