Prince William has opened up about the ‘hardest year of my life’ after his wife and father were diagnosed with cancer.
In a remarkably candid – and at times emotional – interview at the end of his official visit to South Africa, he admitted that the past few months had been “brutal”.
But the prince also said how immensely “proud” he was of Catherine and the king for tackling their health struggles with such dignity and courage.
He added that the Princess of Wales was now ‘doing well’.
During his speech in Cape Town yesterday, the future king discussed everything from his much-discussed beard – which apparently brought his daughter, Princess Charlotte, to tears when she first saw it – to his passion for ‘meaningful’ royal work, such as his landmark Environmental awards from the Earthshot Prize.
According to Prince William (pictured with his wife Catherine), he has had the most difficult year of his life
The Prince said his year had been “terrible”, adding: “It has probably been the hardest year of my life. So it’s been really hard to get through everything else and keep everything on track.” (Pictured L-R: Prince Louis, Prince William, Princess of Wales, Princess Charlotte and Prince George)
But it’s his response to what the past year has been like for him as a husband, father and son that will move people the most.
Sighing slightly and in a lower voice, he said, “Honestly? It was terrible. It has probably been the hardest year of my life. So it’s been really hard to get through everything else and keep everything on track.
“But I’m so proud of my wife, I’m proud of my dad, because he’s addressing the things that they’ve done.
“But from a personal family perspective, it was, yes, it was cruel.”
When asked how the princess was doing, he smiled and said: ‘She is doing well. It’s going well.’
William added of his relaxed attitude in Cape Town this week: “It’s interesting that you say that because I couldn’t be less relaxed this year, so it’s very interesting that you all see that.”
Earlier this week he praised Kate, who was diagnosed with an unknown form of cancer in February and underwent a course of ‘preventive chemotherapy’, ‘has been great all year’.
She recently announced that she has completed her chemotherapy treatment.
Catherine, Princess of Wales (pictured) revealed earlier this year that she had been diagnosed with an unknown form of cancer
In a video released in September (pictured), she revealed she had finished her chemotherapy treatment
His father, King Charles, was diagnosed with cancer in January after routine prostate surgery – although the two are not said to be linked – and he continues to undergo weekly treatment, but doctors are pleased with his progress.
William, 42, made it clear that he plans to continue plowing a different furrow when it comes to his royal role and duties than that of this father and grandmother, at least for the time being.
He admitted he doesn’t necessarily like the extra responsibility that comes with his relatively new role as Prince of Wales, but admits it has given him the time and freedom to launch huge global initiatives such as the Earthshot Prize, and the opportunity to enable ‘meaningful’ change.
“You mention the extra responsibility and the freedom in one sentence,” he laughed.
‘It’s a difficult one. Do I like more responsibility? No.
‘Do I like the freedom of being able to build something like Earthshot, then yes.
‘And that is the future for me. With my role and my platform, it is very important that I do something for good. That I’m helping people’s lives and doing something that really has meaning.’
William was speaking at a ‘seaweed innovator showcase’ where he picked up a pair of earrings made from ‘beach cast kelp’ to take home for his wife.
William’s father King Charles (pictured with Queen Camilla in Samoa in October) was diagnosed with cancer in January after routine prostate surgery – although it is not said there is a link between the two
He wore a blue blazer that he bought from a local vintage store in London as part of his effort to wear as many recycled or sustainable garments as possible during the week.
He says what many people don’t realize – or even want to realize – is how much work goes into behind the scenes to bring together such a large-scale global initiative, beyond the day-to-day public activities where he appears.
‘So the Earthshot is a highlight if you want everything together. But it takes a lot of work, and a lot of invisible things happening, a lot of meetings, a lot of people coming in, a lot of chatting and phone calls, letters, all trying to make the Earthshot work. to be the best possible entity it can be,” he said.
The prince’s ‘green Oscars’ came from his frustration with the ‘global pessimism’ surrounding climate change and the environmental crisis.
He decided that the best way to combat this was to help develop the most inspiring solutions to the biggest problems facing humanity.
Each year for ten years, five winners will receive £1 million in prize money and mentoring to scale up their ideas.
This year’s participants included everything from a company that makes trainers from biodegradable materials to a new technology that captures residual heat and converts it into electricity.
William admitted that he can get frustrated with the slowness of getting people on board, but feels like after four years he is finally seeing results.
“I would like it to be more of a team sport,” he said.
“And so when you approach people, business, or even government, and say, listen, we’re building something incredible. Please come on board. Some people are extremely fast and want it. Others take a little longer and it is those people who take a little longer. I think: guys, we just don’t have time for it.
“So yeah, I’m getting a little frustrated that it’s taking a long time to convince people that this is worth their attention. But I think that’s the nature of what a global environmental prize is doing: you’re starting from scratch and it’s going to take some time.”
But he added that he was “very happy” with the progress they had made so far and was “very happy” with Wednesday’s live-streamed awards ceremony.
According to Prince William, ‘from a personal family perspective it was cruel’
For the first time they took place in Africa, a continent with which he has a special bond, because he retreated there after the death of his mother, Princess Diana, and later proposed to his wife.
William admitted he felt ’emotional’ about it and said he felt particularly touched when he heard the Disney Lion King song ‘Circle of Life’ sung by an African choir to open the ceremony.
‘Hearing the circle of life. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but when I hear the Lion King and stuff like that, I get pretty emotional,” he admitted.
“So when they started singing and I saw the clips from the top of Table Mountain, we were all there and it happened. I felt quite emotional.’
He said he wanted to translate the “impact” of such a great ceremony into increasing the visibility of the solutions it presents.
‘So you have seen for yourselves the magnitude of the solutions. I mean, they cover all sectors and all walks of life. Brilliant people, some are just starting out, some are more established and have a bit more money. But overall, they’re all doing great work in the same direction,” he said.
“I think the most important thing for us is how we can translate that into greater impact, greater scale and ultimately greater progress in addressing environmental challenges.”
And the prince said companies – and countries – all needed to do more.
The prince (pictured) was in South Africa last week for his annual Earthshot Awards
He said, ‘I certainly think so. We give this great platform to all of them. And actually, it’s a great platform for companies to come in and steal whatever they want.
“But if we keep waiting… we’ll continue to eat in the time we just don’t have.
‘And so my message to the business community is really: hurry up and be brave. Invest faster, because we just don’t have that time.’
The prince said he was not yet sure if his children would have been able to watch the ceremony on YouTube as he had “not clocked in with them yet”, but said he hoped they would.
He will be reunited with them at home on Friday before returning to duty with his family at a number of memorial events this weekend.