Prince William takes 'any excuse' to jump on motorbike during re-arranged royal visit

Prince William made the trip to Belfast today for a one-day visit to Northern Ireland where he tried out cutting special effects at a video production training centre

Prince William took a motorbike for a spin through an Arizona desert - but not all was as it seemed.

That's because it was a virtual journey he carried out today as he tried out cutting-edge special effects during a visit to a video production training centre. The Prince of Wales took a rare turn behind the camera to try filming the bike before climbing onto a stationary motorcycle to be filmed himself. Saying he would take "any excuse" to ride one, he conducted part of his official royal engagement from its seat, peppering his hosts with questions about Northern Ireland's world-leading creative sector.

The Prince was in Belfast for a one-day visit, originally due to take place in May but postponed for the General Election. In the second of two engagements, at Ulster University, he was introduced to the virtual production training suite created to teach the next generation the skills to continue Belfast's reputation as a destination for the world's film and television industry.

It is the first university in the UK and Ireland to have the "in-camera visual effects stage", which provides a dramatic LED backdrop upon which any scene can be screened behind actors. Studio Ulster, a £75m development in the city's harbour, has built a full-scale version, which will allow film and television makers to appear to shoot in all climates and locations from their building - saving carbon, travel costs and eliminating the need to take a full crew to difficult or dangerous locations.

In a visit to the university's studio, William was given a short tour by Professor Declan Keeney, before being invited to take control of a large film camera. As student Lucy Rodgers played the part of the motorbike rider, the Prince attempted to move the camera backwards and forwards, at one point telling her apologetically that he had cut off her head.

He was then invited to take a turn, saying "Any excuse to get on a motorbike! "I feel like someone needs to take this for a real spin," he added, asking if it was possible to move it from its gimbal. As he dismounted, the Prince - who is known to have ridden his own motorbike in his younger years - took a closer look, saying: "I love that exhaust." It's incredibly realistic," he said of the set.

Earlier in the day, he said he wanted young people experiencing homelessness to "be seen", during a visit to a Belfast charity helping support young people in care. At the charity, he met young people with experience of homelessness and partners working with his Homewards campaign, to explore how local projects can be scaled up to help prevent young people leaving care becoming homeless.

Northern Ireland is one of six Homewards locations across the UK where local partnerships are working to identify and solve issues that lead to homelessness. William visited The Foyer, a temporary accommodation and support service which houses around 30 young people experiencing homelessness operated by the charity Simon Community, a member of the Homewards “Northern Ireland local Coalition”.

The charity delivers programmes aimed at preventing and ending homelessness for young people leaving care - a group the coalition has identified as high priority.

William was welcomed to the centre by the SDLP leader Dame Fionnuala Jay O-Boyle and Jim Dennison, the chief executive of Simon Community, before sitting down with a group of Homewards partners including Dennison, Caitroina McCusker, PWC’s regional market leader for Northern Ireland who is working with Homewards on private sector support and Alyson Kilpatrick, chair of the Homewards Northern Ireland steering group.

He told them: "All of you have been doing such an amazing job for such a long time. A lot of people have told me that since the documentary went out, it’s opened their eyes a bit more to what homelessness is about. What more can we do to help you?" Kilpatrick replied: "I think coming to shine a light, visiting, meeting people who are homeless, it all helps."

Next, William joined two groups of young people who have been supported by Simon Community’s "housing first for youth programme" which focuses on preventing homelessness, providing stable accommodation and community-based wraparound support to vulnerable young people leaving care for as long as they need, to hear their stories and what support they have received.

In the first group at an arts and crafts activity table, he met Amy, 19, who went into care at 16 after a family breakdown and has been at The Foyer since earlier this year. She told William: "When I was in care, so often, I wasn’t treated like a normal person. There isn’t often mental health support. Without the Simon Community programme, I’m not sure where I’d be." William asked her: "Is it that we need to get to you earlier? Is that the key issue? Should that be how the care system works more?" She told him: "Definitely."

In the second group, he met Sherry, 19 and Thomas 18, who told him of their experiences. Thomas spoke of how he had been in foster care for 12 years and moved home seven times before finding more permanent support and housing from Simon Community.

Sherry, who had an "abusive and alcoholic" mother, had been in foster care from the age of 12, before being given support by the charity. She told William: "People just think it’s alcoholic old people who are homeless. They don’t see us. We really do appreciate what you’re doing."

William replied: "I really care that you guys are seen and so often you aren’t, and I want to change that, change that narrative. Because nobody should be going through what you’ve been through." Thomas asked him: "Of all the causes you could have picked, why homelessness?" William told him: "I had experience of seeing some of the issues from when I was young. The whole plan now is to show we can prevent it. You should all be so proud of the journey you’ve been on, onwards and upwards."