Williams arrived in England in 1952 at the age of 26. He took up accommodation at Hans Crescent in London – an area that was, according to him, populated by the "colonial elite": "the sons of Maharajas, the upper middle classes" – and enrolled on a course in Agricultural Engineering at the University of Leicester. However, following discouragement from his university lecturers and growing feelings of discomfort with his accommodation (he later described Hans Crescent as part of a form of "British brainwashing and indoctrination" because "after living like for a few months you would begin to despise your own people back home"), he dropped his University course and embarked on a period of travel in Europe and the UK. During his travels he met Albert Camus who, in turn, introduced him to Pablo Picasso. For Williams, the meeting with Picasso was a "big disappointment". On being introduced, the Spanish painter told him that "[he had a very fine African head" and said that he would like Williams to pose for him. "I felt terrible," Williams recalled. "In spite of the fact that I was introduced to him as an artist, he did not think of me as another artist. He thought of me only as something he could use for his own work".