Prince William 'motivated' man to overcome drug addiction: 'Gave me purpose'

Prince William has once again proved his worthiness as future king as he continues to touch the lives of the common man.

Eamonn Kelly, a Cambridge-based Big Issue vendor, is crediting the Prince of Wales with inspiring him to get clean after over a decade of drug addiction. In a new interview with the Daily Mail, Kelly revealed that a brief encounter with Prince William and Princess Kate during a 2022 royal visit was the wake-up call he didn’t know he needed.

“I’d just lost my mum,” Kelly recalled. “But when I met William it pulled me out of wallowing and got me motivated. I realised I had to get these drugs out of my system. Since then, I’ve not touched anything.”

A year later, William launched his Homewards program in an effort to end homelessness. 

The meeting took place outside Jimmy’s, a Cambridge charity that offers modular homes and support for the homeless. Then the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, William and Kate were touring the first-of-its-kind housing units when they met Kelly, who was living in one at the time.

At the time, Kelly praised the royal couple as being “down to earth” and “very genuine” people who are “interested in you as a person, not your past or your future.”

Kelly reunited with William the following year when he was invited to the Buckingham Palace Garden Party.

“It was brilliant. William pushed his way through the crowds to come and shake my hand,” he told Big Issue in 2023.

Kelly is now an advocate for modular housing and was even invited to Lambeth Palace to discuss the initiative. But he also credits The Big Issue for helping him stay on track.

“They’ve believed in me,” he said. “If I hadn’t had their help, I would’ve been in trouble.”