Actor Michael Sheen has announced that he has written a children’s book about homelessness called A Home For Spark The Dragon. This new exciting move makes Sheen, 56, the latest global name to bring attention to the urgent need to support those who are living on the streets.
The Prince of Wales is undoubtedly doing the most to draw attention to the plight of homelessness. Inspired by the work of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, the Prince has spent years championing charities such as Centrepoint and The Passage and launching his own programme, Homewards. This five-year locally led programme aims to show it is possible to end homelessness by making it “rare, brief, and unrepeated.”
In the past, the star, who recently played Prince Andrew in Amazon Prime’s series, A Very Royal Scandal, has been critical of Prince William for taking on the Prince of Wales title, and also for his decision to support both England and Wales in sporting events like the World Cup.
Following a visit Prince William made to meet the England team before the Qatar World Cup back in 2022, Sheen, who was born in Newport, said: “I didn’t say it’s insensitive to leave out the Welsh team. For those who care the issue is that the title Prince of Wales seems inappropriate to be held by anyone not Welsh and this is just an instance of the absurdity.”
The award-winning actor went on to add: “The title PoW [Prince of Wales] was first given to the heir to the English throne by his father the King as a sign of dominance over a defeated Welsh people. The “tradition” can be continued or not on the whim of whoever inherits the throne. Many Welsh people feel it should be ended.
“It’s entwined with so much of our history and how many of our present day challenges have evolved since then that it can be for many an issue that holds much more than just it’s surface meaning”.
Despite his previous criticisms, it is clear that the topic of helping the homeless is something the pair would see eye to eye on.
Speaking about the new book, Sheen, said: “I feel very fortunate that I got to grow up in a safe and happy home, but knowing that for many people this isn’t the case, has increasingly made me want to do what I can to help.
“I’ve always believed that telling stories is an important way to make change in the world – and in the long run, stories for children can make the most change of all. For these reasons, I wanted to try to tell a story for young readers about a character who loses their home.”
Sharing the message to the younger generations has also been a key focus for Prince William. In a Sunday Times interview, William revealed he wanted Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis to know “some of us need a helping hand”.
He said: “When I left this morning, one of the things I was thinking was when is the right time to bring George or Charlotte or Louis to a homeless organisation?
“I think when I can balance it with their schooling, they will definitely be exposed to it. On the school run, we talk about what we see. When we were in London, driving backwards and forwards, we regularly used to see people sitting outside supermarkets and we’d talk about it.
“I’d say to the children, ‘Why are they there? What’s going on?’ I think it’s in all our interests, it’s the right thing to do, to expose the children, at the right stage in the right dialogue, so they have an understanding,” he explained.
“They [will] grow up knowing that actually, do you know what, some of us are very fortunate, some of us need a little bit of a helping hand, some of us need to do a bit more where we can to help others improve their lives.”