Prince William admits it ‘has been the hardest year of my life’ in rare and honest interview

Prince William has opened up about the “brutal” year he and his family have had after both his father and his wife were diagnosed with cancer.

In January this year, both the Kind and the Princess of Wales underwent operations and were diagnosed with cancer.

Kate spent 13 days in hospital following abdominal surgery and after intense speculation about her absence from the public eye, she bravely revealed that she had been diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy.

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While Kate has since completed her course of chemotherapy, Charles continues to receive weekly treatment.

Now, in a rare and open interview, William was honest about how he has handled the past 11 months.

“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,” said William to the UK media that had travelled with him to Cape Town, South Africa, for a four-day trip.

William said he was incredibly proud of Charles and Kate for how they’ve responded to their diagnosis. “I'm so proud of my wife, I'm proud of my father, for handling the things that they have done,” he said. “But from a personal family point of view, it's been, yeah, it's been brutal.”

This is the first time William has publicly spoken about how his wife and his father’s health battles have affected him. The prince is also now sporting a beard, which some have interpreted to mean he is taking a more relaxed approach to life now that Kate’s cancer treatment has ended.

William said: “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.”

William revealed that his daughter cried when she first saw his beard, prompting him to go back to clean shaven. He said: “Well Charlotte didn’t like it the first time. I got floods of 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.”