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In his new documentary, Prince William: We can end homelessness, the Prince of Wales discusses his an ongoing journey to end the homelessness crisis once and for all. Faced with the skyrocketing cost of living in the United Kingdom, many are calling for radical action – and following the documentary, one suggestion is aimed at the royal family.

The big problema magazine created to give work to unhoused people, recently published an opinion piece explaining why the Prince of Wales should consider opening Buckingham Palace, as well as other royal residences like Windsor Castle, to the growing homeless population.

“In central London there is a lot of very posh housing that is barely used,” the outlet wrote, adding: “The problem is that Buckingham Palace is currently owned by the crown.”

The big problem cited one Savanta 2023 Survey for Yahoo which reported that 52 percent of those surveyed were in favor of the royal family opening Buckingham Palace to the homeless. The idea was most contested among the 55 to 64 age group, according to Yahoo, with 44 percent of those older respondents “strongly opposed” to the idea.

While the outlet “crunched the numbers,” claiming that “Buckingham Palace alone could accommodate 1,974 studios in its 77,000 square meters,” the idea is not that simple. Transforming a building with so much cultural and historical significance into apartments is an idea that would be incredibly difficult to achieve for many reasons.

The practical and logistical challenges of such an undertaking would be immense, given the security, staffing and taxpayer costs of renovating historic royal residences to accommodate the homeless.

And while media reports claim that Buckingham Palace is “barely” used, the building serves as an administrative center for the royal family, housing offices, meeting rooms, staff quarters and, of course, being the one of the biggest tourist attractions in the country. with over 500,000 paying visitors last year.

While the palace (along with other residences like Balmoral Castle) remains closed to the public for months, King Charles has expressed his desire to move to a more open model. He opened Balmoral to public tours for the first time last summer, and reports that Buckingham Palace would welcome tourists all year round have been rife in recent years.

As Prince William continues to ‘desperately try to help people who need it,’ as he noted in his new documentaryit doesn’t seem like it’s an idea that will come to fruition in the prince’s quest to end homelessness.