Prince William opened up about facing the “hardest year in my life” after wife Kate Middleton and his father, King Charles, were diagnosed with cancer in 2024.
The 42-year-old Prince of Wales got candid about his “brutal” year during an interview with reporters in Cape Town, South Africa, Thursday.
“It’s been dreadful. It’s probably been the hardest year in my life,” William said, according to People magazine.
“So, trying to get through everything else and keep everything on track has been really difficult,” he added.
“But I’m so proud of my wife, I’m proud of my father, for handling the things that they have done,” William said. “But, from a personal family point of view, it’s been, yeah, it’s been brutal.”
In February, Buckingham Palace announced Charles, 75, had been diagnosed with a form of cancer and was undergoing treatment.
In March, Middleton disclosed her own cancer diagnosis and shared that she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy. In a video shared in September, the 42-year-old princess revealed that she was cancer-free after completing her treatment.
During his interview, William shared an update on Middleton’s health, telling reporters she was “doing well.”
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Upon being told he appeared “relaxed,” William responded, “I couldn’t be less relaxed this year, so it’s very interesting you’re all seeing that.
“But it’s more a case of just crack on, and you’ve got to keep going.
“I enjoy my work, and I enjoy pacing myself and keeping sure that I have got time for my family, too,” added William, who shares sons Prince George, 11, and Prince Louis, 6, and daughter Prince Charlotte, 9, with Middleton.
William’s interview came at the end of his trip to Cape Town, where he attended the fourth annual Earthshot Prize Awards. In 2020, the prince established the Earthshot Prize to help entrepreneurs develop climate-friendly businesses. During the ceremony Wednesday, the Earthshot Prize awarded $1.2 million in grants to five businesses for their sustainable, eco-friendly innovations.
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While speaking on stage during the ceremony, William noted that the Earthshot Prize was created “to champion the dreamers, the thinkers and the innovators from every walk of life who share an ambition to build a better, more sustainable world.”
According to People, William told reporters he hoped his children had watched the Earthshot Prize Awards, which were livestreamed on YouTube.
William also shared Charlotte’s reaction to the scruffy beard he grew over the summer. While William is known to go clean-shaven, he sported a beard for the first time in eight years when he and Middleton congratulated Team Great Britain for its success at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“Charlotte didn’t like it the first time,” the prince said. “I got floods of tears, the first one I got tears. So, I have to shave it off. And then I grew it back. I thought, ‘Hang on a second,’ and I convinced her it was going to be OK.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
