Prince William and the hardest year of his life
12/30/2024 03:00 AM
When the Prince of Wales declares that 2024 has been the hardest year of his life, you sit back and take stock of just what that means. With his father and his wife both dealing with their own health scares, it fell to Prince William and Queen Camilla to lead the Royal Family through the first half of the year.
The rest of 2024 saw William growing in his role as Prince of Wales, and while he had a lot of milestones to be proud of this year, we hope 2025 treats him and his entire family much better! As a bittersweet year comes to an end for the future king, let's take a look back at 10 of the biggest moments for the Prince of Wales.
The health struggles of Catherine
After Catherine revealed that cancer had been found following major abdominal surgery in January, Prince William quicklycurtailed his public duties in order to care for his wife and young children.
The royal couple were said to be quite moved at the public's reaction to Catherine's sad news, and nearly a month after his wife's emotional video message, William was overheard telling a woman at an engagement in Surrey that he would take care of Catherine and thanked the crowd for their well-wishes.
Kicking the top off the anthill
At the end of February, Prince William's unexpected announcement that he would pull out of King Constantine's memorial service—with only a short time to go before the ceremony began—kickstarted the conspiracy theories into high gear on Catherine's whereabouts following surgery and what nefarious role William may have played in her 'disappearance' (sigh).
Some of the worst sorts on social media added another family tragedy into the mix and propagated rumours that any other person, outside of royalty, would take to court for libel and win, hands down. It was a truly horrible pile on and the motivations of those involved can only be guessed at. That breeding ground for conspiracy theories followed William and Catherine until the end of March, when the future queen announced that she would need to start preventative chemotherapy after cancer was found during her operation.
Focusing on family
In early September, as Catherine shared the happy news that her chemotherapy treatments have ended and her road to recovery and staying cancer-free begins, William and the children were at the heart of a video the future queen shared about how her family and the simple joys of love meant so much to her.
It was a milestone moment for the family and a turning point for the Prince of Wales after months of extreme pressure.
The statesman on a world stage
While King Charles had decades to build up his role as the Prince of Wales and that of a statesman involved in the high-level events on a global stage, Prince William is still early on in his tenure as heir to the throne.
But this year he had to act at a speed run given his father's cancer diagnosis and how he assumed some of the invitations that King Charles would have otherwise accepted. In June, as the world marked the 80th anniversary of D-Day, while King Charles attended events in the United Kingdom, it was William who travelled to France for the major events, including meeting Canadian veterans at the Juno Beach Centre.
Wanting to be a lowercase ‘royal’
The Prince of Wales was as candid as he's ever been with the press in an exclusive interview he gave on the plane trip back from South Africa, where, among other things, he revealed that this year has been the hardest of his life and that he has his eyes set on a new form of royalty whenever the fullness of time comes for him.
In a quote that may soon become synonymous with the future king, William revealed that he'd like to be royal "with a smaller 'r'" so that he can reign with a focus on "impact, philanthropy, collaboration, convening and helping people."
Only William knows what the future holds, but you can guarantee that this quote is going to follow him around for the rest of his life.
The Earthshot Prize takes South Africa
Prince William's passion project, The Earthshot Prize, had another successful year. The future king announced that the fourth iteration would take place in South Africa in February and the finalists were announced in September. Before traveling to South Africa, he revealed, in a poignant message, that the idea for the Earthshot Prize initially came to him while visiting the continent.
After a week of environmental engagements in Cape Town, Prince William attended the Earthshot Prize ceremony and ushered in five new winners to begin their bids to help the environment and planet.
The bearded prince
While it wouldn't necessarily be noteworthy for any important reason, the fact that Prince William returned from the summer holidays with a full beard generated enough headlines to fuel the internet for a week or two.
We covered it with tongue very firmly in cheek because what a refreshment to see royal men treated to the same standards the royal women are for a change!
Prince William, the Swiftie
What a coincidence! Taylor Swift performing in London on Prince William's 42nd birthday? When the singer dropped her European tour dates last year, royal watchers put this particular London show on their radar—and then when Kensington Palace confirmed that the future king, accompanied by Prince George and Princess Charlotte, would be in attendance that night it led to a pop culture/royal crossover of epic proportions.
Not only was William spotted dancing along to some of Taylor's biggest hits, but the megastar herself even posted a selfie with the future king and his children to wish him a happy birthday!
And speaking of the lingering trend of friendship bracelets at Taylor Swift concerts, William revealed that Princess Charlotte had made him one for the concert that he brought with him to South Africa in November for the Earthshot Prize as a way to keep her close.
Ramping up his work with the homeless
At the tail-end of October, Prince William premiered a new ITV documentary, 'Prince William: We Can End Homelessness' and shared how his late mother helped influence him into showing an interest in the field.
As to whether a royal—with all the palaces and stately homes—can truly play a part in ending homelessness, William revealed that he thinks he can make a difference: "I feel compelled to act, because I don't want to just talk about it. I don't want to just listen. I actually want to see someone smile because their life has been made better."
The football prince
If the world's still spinning that means Prince William is somewhere being a diehard football fan. That didn't change in 2024. When England's national team departed for the Euros in June, their future king was their biggest cheerleader, and when England made it to the finals in July, their future king(s) were there to cheer them on (they'd end up losing to Spain, making for a happy King Felipe and Infanta Sofía).
Along the way, Prince William and King Frederik watched a match together; William revealed Prince Louis's game strategy; and he couldn't hide how stressed watching the matches made him!
And it didn't stop with the Euros: William was a devotedfootball fanthroughout theyear!
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