Prince William is sharing some personal reflections on this past year. The Prince of Wales , whose wife Kate Middleton and dad King Charles III both shared their cancer diagnoses in 2024, recently recounted his experience witnessing their health journeys firsthand. “It's been dreadful,” William told reporters at the end of his visit to Cape Town, South Africa, Nov.
7, per BBC . “It's probably been the hardest year in my life.” The 42-year-old also noted that juggling his royal duties and family responsibilities has been challenging, adding, “Trying to get through everything else and keep everything on track has been really difficult.
” Yet, William—who shares children Prince George , 11, Princess Charlotte , 9, and Prince Louis , 6, with Kate—also praised the king and Princess of Wales for staying strong during tough times. “I'm so proud of my wife, I'm proud of my father, for handling the things that they have done,” he continued. “But from a personal family point of view, it's been, yeah, it's been brutal.
” And though William said his wife and father are “doing well” (Kate announced the completion of her chemotherapy treatments in September and Charles returned to public-facing duties in April), he shut down the claim that he has entered any state of relaxation on his visit to South Africa. “I couldn’t be less relaxed this year,” he said, “so it’s very interesting you’re all seeing that.” Despite the stress of balancing his work and .
