The Royals with Roya and Kate - Prince William’s “hardest year in my life”

Episode Date: November 8, 2024

The Prince of Wales was in South Africa this week for his annual Earthshot prize and gave a candid insight into his "brutal" year. And what are the implications for the Royal Family following the election of Donald Trump? Does Harry have reason to be worried? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ancestry is marking remembrance with free access to global military records until Wednesday. Uncover your family's stories of courage and resilience. Simply register at ancestry.co.uk with just your name and email. No payment details needed for unlimited free searches of our vast collection of global military records. This remembrance honour their memory with Ancestry. Free Access ends 13th of November. Breaking news happens anywhere, anytime. Police have warned the protesters repeatedly, get back.

CBC News brings the story to you as it happens. Hundreds of wildfires are burning. Be the first to know what's going on and what that means for you and for Canadians. This situation has changed very quickly. Helping make sense of the world when it matters most're not in South Africa. We're back from a very busy few days in Cape Town with a very big Wills Week this week. Very big Wills Week. And we're both fresh off overnight flights, so slightly dazed and back to it. But the reason we didn't do it over there was because we were just so busy as it transpired.

Doing Wills Week, his Earthshot week, he did his United for Wildlife Global Summit. There was something else happening in America, which we'll talk about later, which we thought might overshadow it. If there was ever a worry that the small matter of an American presidential election was going to overshadow Prince William, as I think a lot of people thought it would, including a lot of the press. We were wrong, weren't we? Because there was a lot from William and his camp this week that made all the headlines. And actually, particularly today, Donald Trump has taken, he's playing second fiddle to Prince William.

In the British press at least. I wonder how long that will last. Yeah, I think. In the British press at least. I wonder how long that will last. In the British press at least. I think that was it. I mean, look, before we went out there, we had the big sell, didn't we, that this was going to be Prince William's Super Bowl moment, was what the aides kept calling it. His big earth shot ceremony does once a year, but they were saying it was going to be bigger than better than ever before.

And I have to say they were right. Would you say, would you agree? Yeah, I would. Yes. I think there was an energy to this year's awards that maybe perhaps was quite different to what we've seen in Singapore and Boston and London. You know, the whole vibe around this year and all this mood music from William and his team and the people at EarthShot was that they wanted to inspire young people. So they're very keen to grab Gen Z and look ahead to how getting young people involved in saving the planet, which actually is not that hard to sell because younger people are much more concerned about planet. But it felt like at that award ceremony on Wednesday night in Cape Town, there just was a real energy about it. And people in South Africa obviously do care a lot

about conservation and the environment. And what was interesting was seeing how involved William and his team were in the African, you know, a lot of entries from Africa this year. So that was all fascinating. But then of course we had William giving interviews throughout the week, talking about how he feels, how he's coped with the year and how Kate is doing. And that has been really interesting, hasn't it? It's been really interesting seeing him on the stage, not just on the stage at the Earthshot Prize,

but on the kind of world stage. and they've been, you know, putting them out for a broadcast interview, for a print interview. And I think that kind of honesty that came with it all, he said, you know, he's asked how his year had been, because we've heard from the Princess of Wales, we've, you know, we've heard from the Palace, Buckingham Palace about the King and his cancer journey. What has been kind of missing from the story, although who is in that video that Kate released, was how it's been for him. And he 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've done. But from a personal family point of view, it's been, yeah, it's been brutal. And I think for somebody who lost their mother at the age of 15 to say that this has been the hardest year in his

life is quite something. It tells you a little bit of what's going on behind the scenes. It hasn't all been picnics in Norfolk as we saw in the video. No, I suppose it's interesting, isn't it? It speaks to how much, maybe how much game face there has been this year. That's a good way of putting it. In terms of, you know, putting one foot in front of the other for all of them, for the king, for Kate, for William with his dad and his wife both going through cancer. And he talked in that interview didn't hear about how a lot of people have said a lot of the coverage this week has been about how William has looked very relaxed, much more relaxed than normal. And he said, Well, actually, that's interesting. You say that because I couldn't be less relaxed if I

tried. So I think, you know, that's interesting in terms of how what he projects versus how he feels behind closed doors. That goes to that doesn't that's really about the you know, the public game face, which they're all very good members of the family very good at pushing on when they need to despite what's going on at home. I thought the other very interesting bit about that interview was him talking about his role and his role as you know, the friction in his role, the friction of, yes, I'm the Prince of Wales, and I it means it gives me freedom to do big things like the Earthshop Prize and get big partners and business and you know, governments involved and do things like homewards, the homeless homelessness projects and you know, get again, business involved and convene people and try and make impact versus now he's heir to the throne

and has been for the last two years, the added responsibility that comes with that. And he talks about, he said, do I enjoy that responsibility? No, I don't. But I like the creative freedom it gives me to do all these big projects. And I suppose, a lot of people have always wondered whether William,

you know, there's a slight kind of friction there in terms of, I think there was a headline in the Times Today, wasn't there? The reluctant prince. Is he reluctant to step into that role? He's never really enjoyed that kind of... Or the spotlight, exactly. He doesn't really enjoy the kind of... This was all the spotlight. Exactly. He doesn't really enjoy the kind of, what's the word? It's not flummery. It's the sort of, it's and it's not the platform, because I think the

platform is the thing that he does enjoy. He doesn't really involve the sort of trappings that go with that role that aren't about his projects. That reminds me of his sort of great grandfather a little bit, George VI, this idea that the throne, the crown was kind of thrust upon him when his brother abdicated. And he stepped up to the mark and led Britain through wartime, Second World War. And I sort of feel that with William, there is this reluctance that he doesn't like that responsibility. He would like to have a kind of normal job,

I think, and go home and spend time with his kids. And he talked about that too, didn't he? He said, look, I enjoy my work. I enjoy pacing myself and keeping sure that I've got time for my family too. But this is kind of new sense of keep calm and carry on in his own words, wasn't there? It's just, you've got to just crack on, he said, and get on with it. That idea of his role, I mean, he'd only been Prince of Wales for a little over a year before this happened. And he said, okay, I need to take a step back. The first time was when he didn't turn up to King Constantine II's memorial service at Windsor. He pulled out right at the last minute and we knew that Kate had been in hospital with abdominal surgery, for abdominal surgery rather, the months beforehand, but we didn't know at that stage that she, you know, cancer had been found and that she was about to embark on gruel and chemotherapy.

And I think that's when he's got all these projects. He spoke earlier in the week, didn't he, about having a lot of plates spinning. So it says a lot going on inside his mind. I thought, although I did, I genuinely did think he looked relaxed this week. And I don't know, you might disagree, but he was incredibly thin. I thought he looked quite drawn at the same time. Very thin.

He has done for a while. I noticed that the other day when I went to do an engagement with him at BAFTA, which I think we talked about a few weeks ago, didn't we? He was doing something with all the sort of young people working in the creative industries. And he did look much slimmer than normal. And I suppose that's perhaps that's understandable when you go through a year like he's had with your father and your wife both having cancer, the enormous scrutiny on you being exacerbated tenfold. You've still got this issue rumbling in the background with your brother who you're estranged from and all the public discourse around that. Maybe it's probably any one of us when we go through periods like that, it's quite stressful. It reminded me, how he was this week reminded me a bit of Kate's words when she said, look, I've had time to reflect on the things in

life that really make a difference. And I think he did seem changed this week. I think the whole experience of the past year, I mean, obviously it's going to affect you massively, but he did seem changed. He seemed more just kind of open and honest about things in a way that we haven't really seen. He talked about Kate being amazing and how she's been getting on.

And the dress, the earth shot obviously means so much to him. He's gonna put it on the world stage, move it around. He's changing the way that his role works. And although he doesn't relish the kind of double edged sword of responsibility and freedom, he acknowledges and I think embraces and not reluctantly actually a side of the role where he has that unique position as Prince of Wales where he's not part of government. He can do these big things and he can convene people and

look at the sort of star power that he had. He was beaming that show live across Africa, across the world on YouTube. The other thing we saw as well this week, which, you know, his team, William and his team have long been very, very keen to keep putting out there, is this role and this, you know, this discussion of him as a statesman, which I think we first saw the kind of seeds of on that which I think we first saw the kind of seeds of on that 2018 trip to Jordan, Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. I definitely noticed that on that trip. It was the sort of the beginnings of his engagement at a much higher level on the international stage. And we saw that again this week, that he was meeting President Ramaphosa, having a sort of bilateral with him, quite long meeting with him. And when we had that briefing with his team at the beginning of the week, and the British High Commissioner there who talked about it being seen very much as a follow up to the incoming South African state visit we had here with the King previously, he talked about it, you know, William, being the highest, you know, Royals being the highest level of engagement the government can offer foreign governments. And that's something again, that you know, for all the razzmatazz around the Earthshot Prize and the ceremony and him and his sustainable trainers and his vintage blazer, you also have him there in a suit and tie holding a bilateral meeting with President Ramaphosa, building that sort of, you know, role as statesman and, you know, his team talk about, you know, that being the golden thread going through all his work as much as his own kind of his own personal projects like Homewoods and Earthshot. That, given that he is heir to the throne, and who knows when he'll be king, is something that's very important for him and these kind of trips also build on.

Yeah, and you make a good point about the British High Commissioner as well, because he was sort of saying, this is the highest level of meeting that we can offer, you know, foreign head of state, not just for them to meet the kind of prime minister and things like that. But when Robert Poser came over, he was the first incoming state visit of the new reign. And also for William to be sitting alongside David Lammy, the foreign secretary, our friend who came with us. David Lammy, he's everywhere isn't he? He's everywhere that we are. He's nowhere that we're not. You turn around and there's David Lammy. There he was in Samoa, whipped over to Cape Town. He's clucking at the air miles in his neutral.

I don't know if he's got more frequent flyer miles. On a lighter note from that interview, On a lighter note from that interview that William talked about, something that we've talked about regularly, and we've charted its progression, its disappearance, its progression again, William's beard. William's beard was very much back on this. The big line of the interview. It was the huge revelation, wasn't it? That when he first grew his beard, Princess Charlotte hated it so much, she burst into tears and he shaved it off,

which I think tells you a lot, tells us a lot about how much power Charlotte wields in the Wales household. She's calling the sharks, isn't she? She's, she's, she's, well they call the queen, they call Queen Camilla the lady boss in private circles, but I think... I think we should call Charlotte the baby boss. I think Charlotte's coming for her crown.

I think she is. She's the little mini lady boss, isn't she? I mean it was quite sweet though, you know, there she was telling him to shave off his beard, and then he wore that bracelet, didn't he, that she made for him, Yeah. Pappa, all through the Earthshot week, and everyone was very interested to see what that was, and... What did he call it? A relic from their Taylor Swift concert. He promised he wouldn't lose it in Africa.

I think, yeah, I think that's it's that openness, isn't it? He talked about the kind of circle of life because the show opened with this brilliant Liboum rendition of Circle of Life from the Lion King movie and William said that it made him quite emotional and those things always do and I think that kind of softer side of William. I wonder if that's because that's Prince Harry's favorite musical. Prince Harry loves the Lion King. I remember interviewing Harry when they in South Africa.

Fidled up to Bob Iger, didn't they? I know it was in. I thought it was London. I think, yes, but before that, I remember doing an interview with Harry in New Zealand. I want to say it was 2015. I think it was New Zealand,, the end of his trip. And God knows how we got onto the subject of The Lion King.

But we, oh, I know, he was off to go and spend, he was off to go and spend some time in Africa working on conservation projects and wildlife conservation projects. And he said that The Lion King was his favorite musical. He told me he knew every single word to every single song. I think we put it on the front page. Bring back national service, says The Lion King Prince.

And I thought when William talked about The Lion King and how that made him emotional, it just made me think about, I wonder if whether they watched that growing up quite a lot together. I hope so. Well, you know, inspired their original Love of Africa. But I think that kind of openness with William, I've always felt that with Harry, you kind of, you see exactly the emotions

that are going on behind, in his mind. He's a sort of an open book. With William, I often used to feel, seeing him on engagements, that there was the mask, that he's now, he's doing the job, and he's being very serious. But a bit like the late queen, the sort of inscrutable element,

you don't always know what's going on behind the surf, you know, under the surface rather. But I think more and more that's coming out now. And I wonder if that's because of the year that he's had. Why it's been a year like no other for him. And I suppose in a way that Kate said in that video she did, it sort of made her take it like, pair everything back and think about what's really important. I think it's probably given William a whole

new perspective on his family life and his public role. Ancestry is marking remembrance with free access to global military records until Wednesday. Uncover your family's stories of courage and resilience. Simply register at ancestry.co.uk with just your name and email. No payment details needed for unlimited free searches of our vast collection of global military records. This remembrance honor their memory with Ancestry. Free access ends 13th of November. Breaking news happens anywhere, anytime.

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So Will's week is Trump Trump. Trump. But the return of Trump has all sorts of interesting to be confirmed implications for the special relationship with the royal family and the whole idea of soft power. Because it's very different, isn't it, with every member of the royal family? President Trump, when he came in 2019 for that memorable state visit, when he was hosted by Queen Elizabeth. Impossible to forget. Everything from him scorching her lawns with his choppers to bringing an entourage bigger than Taylor Swift's, to Prince Harry trying to hide from the photographer so he wasn't photographed with Ivanka Trump, to Meghan staying at home

because she didn't want to come and hang out with Trump. Obviously she had a young baby, but still she's no fan of Trump. Him being totally obsessed with the Queen and calling her a very dear friend and he's a great admirer. And now... And then there are protests around as well. There was a blimp to remember the big baby Trump with the nappy on. Do. Yes. He will be very keen to try and have another state visit, won't he? I think he'll want more bells and whistles. Absolutely. The interesting thing is, since that state visit in 2019, there's been quite a war of words between last election, Harry and Meghan came out in Montecito, sat on a bench and encouraged everyone to vote in, you know, what was the world's most important election ever and use your vote in words that were widely interpreted as a call for vote for Biden, not for Trump, which didn't go down too well with Donald Trump.

It was deemed, I think, by him and some in the palace that perhaps that was going above and beyond members of the royal family and getting slightly involved in politics. Then someone reminded Donald Trump that in 2016, Meghan had called him a misogynist and divisive. And he then said, I'm not a fan of hers. I would say this, I wish a lot of luck to Harry, because he's going to need it. And he also said, I didn't know she was nasty. And then he tried to back her up and say, I've never called her nasty. Oh, I didn't realize she was nasty about me. And someone reminded him it was actually on tape. So more recently, there's been this whole issue rumbling, hasn't there, over Harry's visa. And I think Tank in America trying to get his visa record

opened up, the question mark over whether or not he, you know, what information he put on his visa documents about his drug use, which he admitted he'd used drugs in his book spare. And President Biden's government fought tooth and nail to keep those records closed. Trump has come out and said, If they find drugs, I wouldn to keep those records closed. Trump has come out and said, If they find drugs, I wouldn't necessarily keep them closed. Well, he says, well, we'll have to see if they know something about the drugs. And if he lied, they'll have to take appropriate action, which begs the question, will he take appropriate action when he's?

Well, I don't know what I think he will. I think he won't, because he's he has a lot of respect inherently for the crown, doesn't he? What he sees as... Yeah, he did say that Harry betrayed the Queen, didn't he? And he said that was unforgivable when he quit royal duties to go abroad. He said, I think he's ruined his relationship with the Queen and have done things that are very inappropriate. I think he was talking about Meghan there. So it's one to watch, isn't it? It is. And also if he comes over, there's a new relationship. It's not him and the queen,

the late queen anymore who he loved dearly. It's him and Charles who won't see eye to eye on a lot of environmental elements. You've also got Camilla who gave the kind of cheeky, do you remember Camilla's cheeky wink to the cameras? When they were all posing, it was Melania, Donald Trump, King and Queen as they are now. And Camilla gave it, as they were walking out the room, she turned to the photographers and just gave this kind of cheeky wink, read into that what you will. But she's releasing her domestic violence documentary on Monday. Here's a man who has said quite despicable things about how he likes to grab women in intimate places.

That doesn't tally well. We've also seen this week reaction to the election. We saw a reaction to the election, didn't we, on the green carpet? Heidi Klum and Billy Porter saying they weren't big fans of Trump. But then this week, and I think this is more significant, Christina Figueres, who is the Earthshot Chair of Williams Earthshot Prize,

it's a huge role she formally oversaw the Paris Agreement for the United Nations Framework on Climate Change, has said that she's not pro Trump either. So I think that's all pointing in the direction that they perhaps won't see eye to eye on many subjects if he comes over and how that will play out. Well, it was interesting because before he came in 2019 and it was announced that Charles and Camila would meet him at Clarence House and have tea with him, there was so much speculation wasn't there over Charles being this great environmental campaigner and Donald Trump being very skeptical about climate change. Would that be the big elephant in the room? But actually, by all accounts,

that meeting went very smoothly and very well. And I think that just that goes to the heart of members of the royal family having to put their personal interests and activism aside when they're on the diplomatic world stage. And that brings us right back to David Lammy, who has called Trump a tyrant in a toupee. And I think this is the point at which I mean does Trump care? Probably not, he probably doesn't even know who David Lammy is but I think this is the point. Well he's had him for dinner since didn't he last month? Yeah but still I mean David Lammy's saying that it's old news. Old news, nothing to see here but I think this is where the royal family come into play you know that they can be that kind of diplomatic bridge they can talk about how Trump met the queen and they can talk about the history of the family and they can roll out the red carpet for him and his squillions of Trumpians. I mean, last time Eric Trump came over and was taking selfies of himself in the Churchill

war rooms in the bunker and posting it on Instagram. I mean, it's going to be such a spectacle if he comes and it would be great fun to see a state visit from Trump again. Well, as someone said to me when we talked about this yesterday, if we do have another state visit with America, we need to get something out of it. The whole point of these state visits is soft power. There was a great hope after Trump coming last time that we would get some sort of good Brexit deal out of it, you know, post-Brexit deal. We didn't. So if, you know, if the arm of pomp and ceremony and patently is offered again across the pond and Trump comes for a state visit, and who knows if that will happen or not, what are we going to, you know, what are we going to get out of it? Should we sort that out before?

Before we start rolling out the red carpet, we've got to get that in writing first. Let's ask David Lammy. What are we going to get out of it, Dee? So we are going into a very important weekend for the Royal Family, aren't we? Which is Remembrance Weekend, which is so inked into their diaries and so important to all of them. We have the Festival of Remembrance on Saturday night at the Albert Hall. We have the National Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph on Sunday. And we have talked about a lot and written about a lot the fact that the Remembrance weekend was so important to the Princess of Wales in terms of where she wanted to try and be in her

gradual return to public life. And we've had confirmed today by Buckingham Palace that she will be at the Festival of Remembrance on Saturday night, which I think a lot of people will be delighted about, and she also will join the Royal Family at the Cenotaph on Sunday, which is really good news, and I think people will be pleased to see her back, and you know, William has said she's doing much better.

The Queen. It's TBC, isn't it? I hope we'll see her on Sunday. We had this announcement this week that she has been recovering at home from a chest infection. She's under the supervision of doctors and that although she's resting, she's been told to rest. They had hoped that she would be back for the events of the weekend. She had to cancel some engagements on Thursday, so she wasn't able to take part in the reception at Buckingham Palace for the Olympians and Paralympians. She wasn't able to go, like she usually does to Westminster Abbey, for the Fields of Remembrance event that happens there, where poppies are laid in memory of those who lost their lives. And with her father having been a prisoner of war in Second World War as well and a decorated war hero, this obviously means a lot to her personally and also in her official role. So I think she would have had to be really quite poorly not to take part in that engagement this week. Now, Palace are saying

that she's on the mend and they don't want people to worry, but it's a shame, isn't it, that just as Kate's returning, it's sort of one one out if we if we're not seeing if we if we don't see Camilla let's hope we do at the weekend but it's a it's not guaranteed. It's not guaranteed but fingers crossed for Sunday let's let's see. And although that's a big highlight there's a big there's a more showbiz element to the King and Queen's diary next Wednesday. And there'll be Yeah they got date night night. Yeah, they've got date night. Charles and Camilla's date night.

What are they doing for date night, Kate? What hot date, Kate, have they got lined up? They're going to have a showbiz reception with some actors and lovies. And then they're going to the Gladiator premiere. Glamorous. Going to the movies. Royal date night.

Absolutely. So from the globe trotting we're not so exhausted are we? oh we should do a podcast on air travel at this rate where to next? i'm going to high growth on tuesday i'm going to see you there and i'm going somewhere else next week with william but you are tbc watch this space can't tell you yet. I'm very much looking forward to hearing how that goes. I'll tell, I might tell you. See ya. Bye.

Ancestry is marking remembrance with free access to global military records until Wednesday. Uncover your family's stories of courage and resilience. Simply register at ancestry.co.uk with just your name and email. No payment details needed for unlimited free searches of our vast collection of global military records. This remembrance honour their memory with Ancestry. Free Access ends 13th of November. Acast powers the world's best podcasts.

Here's a show that we recommend. Staying on top of Canadian news does not have to be boring. Canada Land is a podcast that brings you the news differently. Our reporters break original news stories that you won't hear anywhere else, and our hosts and guests have funny and smart conversations about what is happening in Canadian politics and media. We're living through an era of heightened anxiety and fear. This prime minister is not worth the cost, crime and corruption.

I am not a KGB agent. Listen to Canada Land, wherever you get your podcasts. Acast helps creators launch, grow and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com.