Britain’s Prince William has described the past year as “brutal” following cancer diagnoses for his wife and father. “Honestly, it’s been dreadful,” he said.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday as he closed out a four-day trip to South Africa, the Prince of Wales described 2024 as probably “the hardest year in my life.”

He 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.”