Prince William has spent the past week in Cape Town highlighting solutions for the climate crisis at his fourth annual Earthshot Prize awards. And at the end of his trip he has opened up in a wide-ranging interview with UK media about his difficult year.
"It's been dreadful. It's probably been the hardest year in my life. So, trying to get through everything else and keep everything on track has been really difficult,” the BBC reported the Prince as saying in response to a question about how his year has been.
According to reports, William went on to praise Kate and say how proud he was of her and of his father after a year that has seen them both announce their cancer diagnoses. He added, "But from a personal family point of view, it's been brutal.” While the Princess has released messages and videos about her cancer journey, this is the first time that William has spoken at any length on his perspective.
The Prince’s interview, which appears to have been one interview with content shared between the traveling media, made the front pages of most UK newspapers on Friday. William was also asked about his extra responsibilities in his role as Prince of Wales, and even about his beard. “Charlotte didn’t like it the first time,” the Daily Mail reported William as saying. “I got floods of tears the first time I grew a beard, so I had to shave it off. And then I grew it back.”
The interview came after a documentary about William’s Duchy of Cornwall had made headlines in the UK and sparked much debate about the Duchy’s finances and conditions for some of its tenants. It is unclear if the Prince was asked about this in the interview, but there were no comments from him on the subject. The Duchy previously responded to the documentary by saying the estate was private with a commercial imperative and that the Prince has committed to an “expansive transformation of the Duchy” since he inherited it in 2022.
Town & Country Contributing Editor Victoria Murphy has reported on the British Royal Family since 2010. She has interviewed Prince Harry and has travelled the world covering several royal tours. She is a frequent contributor to Good Morning America. Victoria authored Town & Country book The Queen: A Life in Pictures, released in 2021.
