This has been the hardest year of my life, William says as he opens up on his ‘pride’ in Kate amid cancer battle

PRINCE William today said the cancer diagnoses of wife Kate and dad King Charles were “brutal”, but he was “so proud” of both.

Asked on a trip to South Africa how his year has been, he replied: “Honestly? It’s been dreadful.

“It’s probably been the hardest year in my life.”

But the Prince of Wales insisted he just had to “crack on” with life.

He opened his heart with an honest assessment of the past 12 months in an interview with UK print media in Cape Town.

Wills is in South Africa for the presentation earlier this week of his environmental Earthshot Prize.

While the King, 75, and Kate, 42, have both issued statements about their health struggles, this is the first time William has spoken so candidly on the subject.

Asked how his year has been, he replied: “Honestly? It’s been dreadful. It’s probably been the hardest year in my life.”

William, who took time off while Kate was being treated, added: “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.”

The Princess of Wales spent 13 nights in hospital in January after abdominal surgery.

In a video message in March she revealed she had cancer.

In September the mum of three said she had finished her chemotherapy and was taking each day as it comes.

Earlier this week, William said his wife “had been amazing this whole year”.

During his trip he has been wearing a Taylor Swift gig bracelet made by his daughter Charlotte, nine, with ‘papa’ on it.

Asked if his family had watched the live broadcast of the Earthshot prize-giving, he said: “I don’t know yet. I haven’t clocked in with them yet but I hope they did.

“But 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 I have got time for my family too.”

Speaking about Kate, he said: “She’s doing well. Doing well.”

Two thousand people packed a new eco-dome for the fourth Earthshot Prize ceremony.

There are still six years left in what is described as the Earthshot Decade to find ways to fight climate change.

In the interview yesterday, Wills insisted: “I’m really pleased with the progress we’ve made so far.

“We’ve built something from scratch. It’s a global environmental prize. It takes time, it takes a lot of effort. It takes a lot of balancing to get it right.

“And last night I was really thrilled with the actual award ceremony.”

Earlier in the day Wills enjoyed a seafood barbecue with models and awards guests Winnie Harlow, 30, and Heidi Klum, 51.

He confessed to choking up at the ceremony as a choir on the top of Table Mountain sang a version of The Circle of Life from 1994 Disney film The Lion King.

Asked whether he got emotional, William said: “I did, hearing the Circle of Life. I don’t know about everyone else, but hearing The Lion King and things like that gets me quite emotional.

“So, when they started singing, and I saw the clips from the top of the Table Mountain and we were all there and it’s happened. I did feel quite emotional.

“But the key thing is really the impact now.

“We need to translate the sort of effort that we put into the visibility of the prize and particularly the visibility of the solutions.

“So you guys have seen for yourselves the scale of the solutions. I mean, they cover all sectors in all walks of life. Brilliant people, some barely started, some are a bit more established and have a bit more money. But overall all doing fantastic work in the same direction.

“And I think the key thing for us is how do we translate that into more impact, more scale, and ultimately, greater progress in tackling environmental challenges.”

The Prince believes major firms and governments need to step up in the fight against global warming.

He said: “I definitely think so. I mean, we were discussing this ­earlier, so the Earthshot Prize, we do all the due diligence for ­companies, so we take these people from all around the world through their nominating channels.

“And we vet them basically, and say whether they’re good to go, got more growth to do, maybe not saying, well, doing as much as they could. We’re giving this amazing platform to all of them.

“And really it’s an amazing platform for business to come in and poach what they want. But in return, businesses have actually got to do that and so there’s a little bit of reluctance.

“But if we keep waiting like that, we’re going to keep eating into time that we just don’t have.

“And so my message to business really is: hurry up and be courageous. Invest faster because we just don’t have that time.”

William became Prince of Wales in 2022, giving him huge responsibility but freedom to pursue causes such as his Earthshot Prize and Homewards scheme to try to end homelessness.

Asked if he was enjoying the newfound freedom and responsibility, he laughed and said: “You mention the added responsibility and the freedom in the same sentence.

“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’. 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.”

The Prince and Princess of Wales are expected to appear at the Cenotaph for Remembrance Sunday with the King.