Prince William admits this has been a 'brutal' year for the royals
Prince William has spoken candidly about the impact cancer has had on the royal family, describing this past year as 'brutal' and the 'hardest' of his life to date. His emotional response during an interview in Cape Town is a departure from the stiff upper lip attitude of previous royal generations.
Speaking during a visit as part of his Earthshot prize work, when William was asked about how he's found the last year, he replied, "Honestly, it's been dreadful. It's probably been the hardest year in my life. Trying to get through everything else and keep everything on track has been really difficult."
He continued on to say how very proud he is of both his father, King Charles III, and his wife, Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales.
"I'm so proud of my wife, I'm proud of my father, for handling the things that they have done," the future King shared. "But from a personal family point of view, it's been, yeah, it's been brutal."
King Charles' cancer diagnosis was shared publicly around a month prior to the Princess of Wales issuing a statement confirming she had also been diagnosed with the disease.
Thankfully, Kate shared the happy news that she is now cancer-free back in September, alongside a personal and moving video of her, Prince William and their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
The video, which showed the Prince and Princess of Wales holding hands and laughing, was also a signal that the royals are perhaps more open than ever before when it comes to showing their human side and the struggles they face, just like anybody else. A move that may help to garner respect amongst those who see the family as out of touch due to their immense privilege.
Prince William also discussed in his Earthshot interview how becoming heir to the throne has been a challenge for him, but how he's looking for the positives that accompany the additional pressure.
"Do I like more responsibility? No," he admitted. "Do I like the freedom that I can build something like Earthshot? Then yes. That's the future for me. It's very important with my role and my platform that I'm doing something for good, that I'm helping people's lives and I'm doing something that is genuinely meaningful. So, the Earthshot is a culmination, if you like, of all that put together."
The Earthshot project is all about encouraging ambitious and inventive solutions to tackling climate change and environmental issues.
William's new interview comes fresh off the back of his two-part documentary series, Prince William: We Can End Homelessness, airing on ITV.
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