Prince William addresses ‘brutal’ 2024 after Kate Middleton and King Charles’ cancer diagnoses: ‘Hardest year of my life’

Prince William has spoken out about the “brutal” 2024 he has endured, describing it as “the hardest year of my life” following the cancer diagnoses of his father, King Charles III, and his wife, Kate Middleton.

Speaking to reporters on the final day of his visit to South Africa, which hosted his annual Earthshot Prize Ceremony, the Prince of Wales said, “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,” he added, responding to a question about how his year has been.

“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.”

Asked how Kate, aka Catherine, Princess of Wales, is doing after completing her chemotherapy, William said she’s “doing well,” per People.

When a reporter told him he looked relaxed, the prince was taken aback. “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,” he continued. “I enjoy my work and I enjoy pacing myself and keeping sure that I have got time for my family, too.”

Prince William, who became Prince of Wales after his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II passed away in September 2022, also responded to a question about whether he liked the freedom and responsibility that came with his relatively new role.

“It’s a tricky one. Do I like more responsibility? No,” he confessed.

“Do I like the freedom that I can build something like Earthshot then yes.”

He continued, “And 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.”

William’s Earthshot organization aims to combat environmental crises facing the planet by annually giving ￡1 million grants to five organizations or individuals who have created game-changing innovations.

The royal also revealed that during the Earthshot Prize awards in Cape Town on Wednesday, he got “emotional” watching the prerecorded performance of “The Circle of Life” from “The Lion King” filmed at the top of Table Mountain that played at the very beginning of the ceremony.

“Hearing ‘The Lion King’ and things like that gets me quite emotional,” he shared. “So, when they started singing and … we were all there and it’s happened, I did feel quite emotional.”

William was in South Africa without Kate and their three children — Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6 — and said he wasn’t sure if they watched the Earthshot Prize ceremony, which was streamed live on YouTube, but added, “I hope they did.”

Also, speaking of his children, William revealed that Princess Charlotte isn’t a fan of his new beard.

“Well, Charlotte didn’t like it the first time. I got floods of tears, so I had to shave it off,” the prince said. “And then I grew it back. I thought, hang on a second, and I convinced her it was going to be OK.”

William’s comments about Catherine’s and Charles’ health are his most candid to date.

Both the King and the Princess of Wales received their diagnoses after undergoing surgery for non-cancer-related conditions in January. Doctors discovered Kate’s cancer after she underwent a planned abdominal surgery and Charles’ after he had a procedure to treat a benign enlarged prostate.

King Charles revealed his diagnosis in February and, after receiving treatment, returned to work in May. Kate, on the other hand, announced she had cancer in March following a deluge of conspiracy theories that erroneously hypothesized why she hadn’t been seen in public since her January surgery.

In September, Kate announced she was “cancer free” and began to gradually return to work shortly thereafter.