Prince William spends a night on the streets for charity

London: A cold alley in central London is a far cry from a palace -- but it was the spot Prince William chose to sleep to highlight the plight of homeless British teenagers.

He spent a chilly night near Blackfriars Bridge last week with Seyi Obakin, the chief executive of British homeless charity Centrepoint. William is the charity's patron.

A photograph released by the charity shows William, 27, in the alley in jeans and a grey hooded sweatshirt.

In a post to the charity's website on Tuesday, Obakin said they slept on cardboard boxes in an alleyway. He said temperatures that night fell to 4C (39F).

Obakin said William wanted to "raise awareness of the problem and to be able to understand a little better" what homeless teenagers go through.