Prince William has opened up for the first time on the impact the past year has had on him personally, following serious health scares for his wife Kate and his father King Charles.
Both royals have spent long periods away from the public eye in 2024 as they went through cancer treatment.
The King and Princess of Wales have only recently started to make more appearances at official occasions, with Charles travelling to Samoa for a meeting of Commonwealth heads of government last month.
While details of their conditions and treatments have been kept private, the Prince of Wales revealed the past year has been ‘brutal’ for the family.
Asked how his year has been, William said: ‘Honestly, 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.
‘But I’m so proud of my wife, I’m proud of my father, for handling the things that they have done.
‘But from a personal family point of view, it’s been, yeah, it’s been brutal.’
Kate spoke about her cancer treatment in a deeply personal video released earlier this year, in which she described the experience as ‘incredibly tough for us as a family’.
Over clips of the couple walking in a forest with their three children, she said her focus was on ‘doing what I can to stay cancer free’.
She has since made a handful of public appearances, including a visit to Southport alongside William to meet the families of the girls who died in the July 29 knife attack.
Last weekend, the Prince and Princess met Liz Hatton, an teenage photographer with a rare and aggressive form of cancer, during investitures at Windsor Castle.
Meanwhile, the king is preparing for a return to fuller duties and more travel overseas from next year after receiving his cancer diagnosis in February.
William’s comments were made in an interview with British media while visiting South Africa earlier this week for his Earthshot Prize ceremony.
When told he appeared relaxed, the prince replied: ‘I couldn’t be less relaxed this year.’
At the event, five category winners were awarded £1 million each to develop their ideas to ‘repair’ the planet.
Among them were a project to turn industrial waste into electricity, and an initiative which has saved a critically endangered breed of antelope from extinction.
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