Barely anyone noticed, but Prince William was begging people to pay attention to his Earthshot trip to South Africa. I’ve never seen William speak to the media so much and give so many on-the-record comments as he did this week. He finished his dumb, four-day trip by giving a full interview to Sky News, in which the slumlord told the outlet that 2024 has been “brutal” and “the hardest year in my life.” Some highlights from the interview:

He was asked how hard the last year has been: “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.”

How his father & wife have coped with their health issues: “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.” Yesterday he praised Kate for being “amazing” and today when asked how she was doing said: “She’s doing well. Doing well.”

The responsibility & freedom that comes with being Prince of Wales: “It’s a tricky one. Do I like more responsibility? No. Do I like the freedom that I can build something like Earthshot then yes.”

His future royal work with Earthshot: “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. But it takes a lot of work, and there’s a lot of unseen stuff that goes on, a lot of meetings, a lot of people coming in, a lot of chatting and phone calls, letters, all trying to sort of make the Earthshot get to being the best possible entity it can be.”

How his daughter reacted to his beard: “Well Charlotte didn’t like it the first time. I got floods of tears, the first one, I got a few tears, so I had 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.”

The Earthshot movement: Excited about the “Earthshot movement”, he said he felt “quite emotional” as he sat in the audience for the fourth annual awards ceremony, but he clearly has frustrations some aren’t responding to his call to action quickly enough. He said: “When you go and approach people and say, like business or whoever, or even government when you approach them, and say, ‘listen, we’re building this incredible thing, please come on board’. Some people are extremely fast and keen to do it. Others take a little bit longer and it’s those people who take a little bit longer, I’m like, ‘guys, we just don’t have the time’. So, yes, I get a bit frustrated that it takes a long time to convince people that this is worthy of their attention.”

On how he seemed relaxed in Cape Town: “It’s interesting you say that, cause 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… I enjoy my work and I enjoy pacing myself and keeping sure that I have got time for my family too.”

[From Sky News]

I don’t know him, I don’t know his life, but it seems like 2022 was probably a harder year for him, considering the death of QEII? Or 1997, the year he lost his mother? I’m not minimizing the difficulty in dealing with dual health crises in your immediate family, but also… William has an abundance of wealth, support, staff, and a sycophantic press eating it up. That softens the “brutality” of the year, and perhaps it wouldn’t be the worst idea to also acknowledge that and his privilege? The thing about Charlotte crying over his beard is funny, actually. She was like: oh no, my father looks like a total sleaze with this greasy-looking beard.

His statements about Earthshot are bizarre too, especially since he got bored with Earthshot years ago and he’s no longer the one doing the daily maintenance on the project, not that he ever was. “But it takes a lot of work, and there’s a lot of unseen stuff that goes on, a lot of meetings, a lot of people coming in, a lot of chatting and phone calls, letters…” Lol, all of which is done by staff?? “Others take a little bit longer and it’s those people who take a little bit longer, I’m like, ‘guys, we just don’t have the time’.” When people are reluctant to sign on to Slumlord Willy’s Keenshot busywork, he throws a tantrum and screams “I don’t have time for this!!”

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.