Recently all that has been talked about on the news and in the media is the upcoming royal wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and the impact of this highly anticipated day is wide-reaching.
There have been calls from Simon Dudley, the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead councilor, to prosecute or remove large numbers of homeless people in the Windsor area in anticipation of the royal wedding as the wedding will be taking place in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.
He alleged that “a large number of adults that are begging in Windsor are not in fact homeless” and their decision to sleep on the streets was a “voluntary choice.”
With regard to the royal wedding, Dudley worried that the town’s homeless population “presents a beautiful town in a sadly unfavorable light,” also describing homelessness as an ‘epidemic’.
Homelessness is a serious issue in the UK with official figures showing that an estimated 4,134 people were forced to sleep outside in 2016, up 16% from the previous year and the lack of compassion being showed by an official figure in government towards the homeless is disappointing.
What is even more so is the idea that the issue of homelessness is only being raised because there happens to be a royal wedding that is due to take place, because it is apparently completely unacceptable for the royal family to see the state of the town of Windsor normally and the actual reality for everyday people.
What makes the situation even more ironic is the fact that Prince Harry has often used his position of extraordinary privilege to raise awareness for the growing problem of homelessness on Britain’s streets so the use of his wedding to spread an inconsiderate and some would consider ignorant stance on homelessness is highly ironic and unfortunate.
However, something positive has stemmed from this situation as a day of national fundraising for homeless people in the UK has been announced to coincide with the Royal Wedding.
The ‘Royal Bedding’ day of action has been launched by Musicians Against Homelessness as a response to Simon Dudley’s problematic comments.
This has defiantly shown that views and comments like these will not be tolerated by people and that a positive action can occur instead.
You can support this by heading to Musicians Against Homelessness’ official Facebook page.
