Former England star Paul Gascoigne kisses Prince William during visit to Bournemouth Pret A Manger
Former England football star Paul Gascoigne gave Prince William a kiss on the cheek during the royal’s visit to a Pret A Manger store.
The Prince of Wales visited the branch in Bournemouth town centre on Thursday to discuss The Pret Foundation’s plans to help homeless people back into work.
Former Newcastle, Tottenham and Rangers star Gascoigne, who lives in the nearby Dorset town of Poole, was among the crowd at the event and was greeted by the Prince.
As the pair shook hands, the 56-year-old former footballer – best known by his nickname “Gazza” – leaned in towards William and planted a kiss on his cheek.
Afterwards, he told The Sun: “I came past Pret and someone said William was there.
“I’ve met him a couple of times and met him at Wembley, he loves his football, I climbed over a few chairs to talk to him and gave him a peck on the cheek.”
Prince William said: “It’s been a very interesting morning.”
“We even bumped into Gazza, he popped into (Pret).”
The Pret Foundation’s programme aims help 500 people experiencing homelessness get jobs at Pret shops around the country.
Prince William has been involved in projects to help tackle homelessness in the UK, and in June last year was spotted on the streets of London selling Big Issue magazines.
He arrived in the Dorset town by train, with a video posted on his official account on X, formerly known as Twitter, showing him arriving at the station.
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The post said: “In June, we launched HomewardsUK, a five-year programme to show it is possible to end homelessness
“Today we’re in Bournemouth, one of the six Homewards locations, to see how they’re getting on and exploring the role local businesses can play in supporting our mission.”
Prince William also visited Bournemouth AFC’s Vitality Stadium, to hear about the Premier League football club’s work within the community to support those at risk of homelessness.