Prince William has pledged to protect Britain's pubs during a visit to the Prince of Peckham in South London, where he pulled pints and chatted with locals. The Prince of Wales described pubs as “so important” and “a place for the community to come together”, adding: “We need to protect our pubs.”
The future king, 43, said public houses act as “the glue and fabric” in a community, and praised the pub's owner, Clem Ogbonnaya, for running a family business. William joined the pub's weekly breakfast club, Chatty Patty, which aims to tackle loneliness, telling the group he “grew up in pubs”.
During the visit, William pulled a pint of Red Stripe alongside Mr Ogbonnaya, receiving a round of applause. He joked the owner was “just as bad as me” after their efforts. The prince also tried jerk chicken with plantain, which he said “blew my mind”, adding: “I’m hoping they’ll Deliveroo this jerk chicken to Windsor.”
Earlier in the day, William visited PECAN, a community charity in Peckham addressing poverty and food insecurity. He met staff and clients, including Stella, who was sleeping on the streets before the charity helped her in 2017. William said: “It’s amazing what you guys do, it puts people’s lives back on track again.”
The prince also spoke about the impact of the 24-hour news cycle and mobile phones on mental health, saying: “With everyone’s phones now you can get so much news, that actually it completely overwhelms you… most of the time we hear bad stuff, so you can reinforce someone into the bad place and depression.”
