Prince William Doesn’t Like ‘More Responsibility’ in New Royal Role

Prince William. Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

Prince William isn’t a big fan of adding more work to his already crowded plate.

“You mention the added responsibility and the freedom in the same sentence,” the Prince of Wales, 42, joked to reporters while speaking to the press on Wednesday, November 6, during his visit to Cape Town, South Africa. “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.”

William has been in South Africa for the green initiative, which recently held a prize awards ceremony. Five projects were awarded £1 million ($1.3 million) each.

“And that’s the future for me. It’s very important with my role and my platform that I’m doing something for good,” William said of his work with Earthshot, which began in 2020. “That I’m helping people’s lives and I’m doing something that is genuinely meaningful.”

One reporter noted that William appeared to have a laid-back nature during his Cape Town trip.

“It’s interesting you say that, because I couldn’t be less relaxed this year,” he teased. “So it’s very interesting you’re all seeing that.”

William has had a rocky 2024 as his wife, Princess Kate Middleton, and father, King Charles III, have both been battling cancer. As his father has had to step away from some royal duties amid his treatment, William and a few other members of the royal family have taken on more responsibilities and engagements to aid Charles, 75, amid his health battle.

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“It’s probably been the hardest year in my life,” William admitted on Wednesday. “So, trying to get through everything else and keep everything on track has been really difficult.”

In February, Buckingham Palace announced that Charles was diagnosed with an undisclosed kind of cancer diagnosis. The following month, Kate, 42, revealed that she was going through chemotherapy for a cancer diagnosis.

“I’m so proud of my wife, I’m proud of my father, for handling the things that they have done,” William said of the year so far. “‘But from a personal family point of view, it’s been, yeah, it’s been brutal.”

In September, Kate announced that she had completed chemotherapy. William noted on Wednesday that Kate has been “doing well.”

While Charles took a brief reprieve from his public engagements, he fully returned to work in April. In October, the monarch and his wife, Queen Camilla, traveled to Australia and Samoa. However, he ended up canceling his appearance at the COP29 climate conference in Azerbaijan which is scheduled for November, per Hello!.

Later that month, Buckingham Palace revealed that Charles’ regular travel schedule would resume in 2025.

“We’re now working on a pretty normal-looking full overseas tour program for next year, which is a high point for us, knowing that we can think in those terms,” a Buckingham Palace spokesperson confirmed in an October statement to Hello!.