Prince William uncovers 'hardest year' of life: 'It's been dreadful'

Prince William called the year 2024 “brutal" and the “hardest year” of his life amid Kate Middleton, King Charles' health crises.

During a recent interview on the last day of his four-day visit to Cape Town, The Prince of Wales candidly reflected on 2024.

“It's been dreadful. It's probably been the hardest year in my life,” he said referring to his father and wife's cancer diagnosis.

William noted that managing his duties as Prince of Wales alone with his family health scare was hard, “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,” Prince William continued.

When inquired about Kate's health, who announced her chemotherapy completion on September 9, he said, “ (Kate is) doing well,” adding, “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 further added. “I enjoy my work and I enjoy pacing myself and keeping sure that I have got time for my family, too.”

While talking about his new beard he revealed that his 9-year-old daughter Charlotte wasn’t a fan of his facial hair.

“Charlotte didn’t like it the first time. 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 okay,” William said.