The Prince of Wales visited the Centrepoint base in London on Tuesday, January 21, where he played table football and shadow boxed with the young people helped by the homeless charity, and he particularly enjoyed his sparring session, which was run by the Boxwise Foundation, an organisation working with disadvantaged and vulnerable people with the aim of reducing rates of gang violence and knife crime.

According to the Daily Telegraph newspaper, William was handed a pair of boxing gloves by coach Charlie Beatt and said: “You guys look like you’re professionals already!”

After working through a series of drills with five young people, the prince admitted: “I’m working up a sweat already.”

And congratulating the trainer, he added: “I might get back into boxing! It’s been a while, a long time actually, but it’s seriously hard work.”

During his visit, William - who marks 20 years as Centrepoint patron this year - spoke to young people who have turned their lives around with the aid of the charity.

He played table football while service user Bethany, 24, told how she became homeless with a young child when she was just 17 but with help from Centrepoint, landed a place at the London School of Economics.

After being hailed as a "shining example" of Centrepoint's work by the 42-year-old royal, Bethany told William: “It was close several times to being on the streets, but we were given accommodation that just wasn’t suitable for a young child.

“When I finally got into contact with Centrepoint, they helped me so much with my life skills and everything that was going on with my situation that I was able to go to university, it was totally transformative.

“It was the safety net I needed and without them I do not know where I would be now.”

After the table football game reached 2-2, William conceded to "an honourable draw" before speaking to Centrepoint chief executive Seyi Obakin, who stressed the importance of “catching young people before it’s too late” and told how the charity was constantly working on “identifying ways in which we can help early on”.

The prince replied: “This is it, and this is what I hear time and time again, the safety net that is needed. Because without it, the alternatives are very real and have huge knock-on effects.”

William is two years into Homewards, his five-year scheme to end homelessness and the executive praised the prince - who has three children with wife Catherine, Princess of Wales - as a "true ambassador" for the cause.

He added after the visit: “We couldn’t ask for more. The more he takes on, the more he knows he could be open to criticism. People can say, ‘Oh you live in a palace, what do you know about this situation’, but he listens, and he can be the change.

“Everything is laced with risk for him, whether the criticism is that he is being too political or stepping out of his lane, but we need him and we support each other.”

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