Prince William's life seems like it is taken from the pages of a storybook. He is a prince
of the Royal Family, and he has his own beautiful family. Royal life isn't always easy, though.
Here's a closer look at just how tragic Prince William's life has truly been.
Like most young royals, Prince William was sent off to boarding school at a young age.
The experience was reportedly a difficult one for him at the beginning. As noted in
the book Prince William: A Biography, the future king was sent to Ludgrove School when
he was just 8 years old. While his mother, Princess Diana, was reluctant to send him
away, his father, Prince Charles, wanted to continue the family tradition of sending children
to boarding school.
William was reportedly quite lonely after first going away to school and missed his
family Diana is said to have been in tears when she dropped him off at school. While
he was said to be homesick as he adjusted to his new life at school, William eventually
grew accustomed to being away from home, although it'd seem he still missed his family -- his
mother regularly wrote to him, reportedly addressing her letters to "My Darling Wombat."
Prince William was not raised with the knowledge that he would one day be the king of England.
Royal biography Andrew Morton wrote in William and Catherine: Their Lives, Their Wedding
that, before starting school, William, quote, "genuinely had no idea that he was any different
from anyone else."
Prince William's schoolmates teased him about being the heir to the throne, and it was reportedly
his brother, Prince Harry, who broke the news to him that he wouldn't be able to decide
his future career. According to Morton:
"When William said once that he would like to be a policeman and look after his mother,
Harry told him emphatically: 'You can't, you have to be King.'"
Years later, it came out that William struggled with the responsibilities placed on his shoulders.
Broadcaster Jeremy Paxman revealed in a 2019 documentary that Princess Diana had opened
up to him about Prince William.
"William often told her he didn't really want to be king. And that Harry would say, 'Well
if you don't want the job, I'll have it.'"
The media was sent into a frenzy in November 1995, when Princess Diana gave a now-infamous
BBC interview. In the revealing tell-all, she spoke not only of her husband's infidelity
with Camilla Parker Bowles, but she also admitted to an affair of her own.
"Did your relationship go beyond a close friendship?"
"Yes it did."
His mother confessing to an affair with James Hewitt, an army officer, was especially hard
on William.
Historian Robert Lacey wrote in Battle of Brothers that Prince William watched the interview
at school. His mother's, quote, "candid admission [...] tipped the teenager over the edge,"
leaving him feeling betrayed. Prince Charles had opened up on television the previous year
about his own affair, and for his mother to then come out and speak about her infidelity
left William in tears. He was so angered by the interview that when his mother called
him after it aired, he refused to speak to her.
Diana's spiritual healer, Simone Simmons, told Lacey:
"All hell broke loose. He was furious […] that she had spoken badly of his father, that she
had mentioned Hewitt."
Things came to a head the month after Princess Diana's tell-all interview aired in 1995.
The relationship between Princess Diana and Prince Charles had become so strained that,
in December 1995, Queen Elizabeth II wrote letters to her son and daughter-in-law ordering
them to get a divorce.
Charles and Diana's 1996 divorce was a bitter one, and it took a toll on Prince William.
The book Prince William: A Biography noted that, while Prince William was accustomed
to the strained relationship between his parents, their eventual divorce nevertheless left him,
quote, "traumatized."
The greatest tragedy of Prince William's life has been the untimely death of his mother,
Princess Diana. He was just 15 years old when she passed away in a car crash in 1997. In
the BBC documentary Diana, 7 Days, Prince William recalled feeling, quote, "completely
numb, disorientated, [and] dizzy" after learning of his mother's death. He said:
"You feel very, very confused. And you keep asking yourself, 'Why me?' All the time, 'Why?
What have I done? Why? Why has this happened to us?'"
"You feel pain like no other pain. And you know that in your life, it's going to be very
difficult to come across something that's going to be worse pain than that."
Prince William never really got over his mother's death. In the BBC documentary Football, Prince
William and Our Mental Health, he revealed that becoming a parent made his emotions from
that horrifying time, quote, "come back in leaps and bounds."
The royal has felt his mother's absence keenly throughout his life, telling GQ that he wishes
she were still here to give her advice and to meet his wife and children.
In 1995, Prince Charles announced that he was marrying Camilla Parker Bowles. While
Prince William was reported at the time to be happy for his father, Robert Jobson wrote
in the 2006 book William's Princess that things were a little more complicated:
"Sure enough, privately, their mood was more one of 'acceptance' than undiluted joy."
Prince Charles and Camilla went public as a couple in 1999. Royal biographer Penny Junor
wrote in her book The Firm that the reason Prince Charles waited so long to propose was
out of concern for his sons. Charles and Camilla reportedly wanted to wait for William and
Harry to grow up before giving them a stepmother. While Junor wrote that the princes liked Camilla
enough, quote, "accepting Camilla as a fixture in their father's life" was reportedly not
the easiest transition.
Junor cited William and Harry's loyalty to their mother for their mixed feelings towards
Camilla, writing that they were happy for their father but also knew, quote, "that Camilla
was the cause of [Princess Diana's] terrifying unhappiness."
While college is often regarded as a period of self-discovery and a time to adjust to
adulthood, Prince William wasn't able to have a normal college experience. Joann F. Price
noted in Prince William: A Biography that the prince, quote, "was given a say in which
university he would attend," but that Prince Charles particularly wanted him to attend
the University of St. Andrews.
Before William headed off to begin his studies in 2001, his grandmother set down some strict
instructions for him, which included, quote, "no smoking, only moderate drinking, and definitely
no drugs." Queen Elizabeth also forbade him to kiss a date in public.
"I think it's all about finding your way, with the right people, the right support,
close family around you to guide you."
Notably Prince William was required to be followed around by his personal police protection,
and he was not even allowed to discuss his family with classmates.
Although William was able to blend in reasonably well on campus, and, quote, "everyone was
protective of the prince in their midst," he still drew a lot of attention, especially
from the media. The prince had to be on constant guard against the tabloids.
"It's very romantic. There's a true romantic in there."
Prince William seems to have found his fairytale happily-ever-after with Kate Middleton, but
his road to love wasn't exactly the smoothest. Before he and Kate settled down, Prince William
had his love life dragged through the press. As noted by the Evening Standard, Prince William
was linked to more than half a dozen women before marrying Kate, including Davina Duckworth-Chad,
a family friend who was spotted with Prince William before he headed off to college. Prince
William was also linked to Isabella Calthorpe, whose half sister, Cressida Bonas, was involved
with Prince Harry.
While it certainly seems like Kate was the most serious of his girlfriends over the years,
the ups and downs of their relationship were scrutinized by the press. In 2007, when Prince
William and Kate were briefly broken up, a source told the Evening Standard that Prince
William, quote, "always had a roving eye" and that Kate had, quote, "always known and
accepted" this.
Prince William spent several years in the military, and what he saw during his service
impacted the rest of his life. The royal worked as an air ambulance pilot with the East Anglian
Air Ambulance, and he has spoken about how difficult the job was. Speaking to senior
paramedic Dawn Anderson at an event in 2018, William said of his military service:
"You're just seeing all the sad things, all the pain every day. [...] I took a lot home
without realizing it."
At the 2018 This Can Happen conference, William said that seeing children involved in car
accidents was particularly hard on him:
"The relation between the job and the personal life was what really took me over the edge."
Prince William's military experience was part of his motivation in the mental health initiatives
he has led over the years. As noted on the royal family's website, William is dedicated
to promoting mental well-being and ending the stigma surrounding mental health.
"Ultimately, it's about extending that conversation and telling people it's okay to talk about
it."
Prince William has notably been quite open about his mental health. Not only has he talked
about the impact his military service had on his mental state, but he has also talked
about his anxiety. In the 2020 BBC documentary Football, Prince William, and Our Mental Health,
the royal opened up about his public speaking anxiety, saying that he has suffered from
stage fright for years and would worry about how the people in the audience were reacting
to his words.
William joked about the ingenious way he found of dealing with this anxiety, saying that
as his eyesight became poorer as he grew older, he couldn't see the faces in the audience
clearly anymore. Since he didn't wear contacts while working, he could only see the speech
in front of him and not the people listening to him speak. He explained:
"It helps because it's just a bit of a blur of faces."
While Prince William has been happily married to Kate Middleton for years, for a time, it
appeared as if things weren't well with the couple. A scandal erupted in 2019, when outlets
reported that William was having an affair with Rose Hanbury, a family friend who was
present at his wedding to Kate in 2011, as noted by the Daily Mail.
While there was no evidence for the affair, the gossip nevertheless took a toll on William
and his family. A source told Hollywood Life that Kate didn't believe the gossip, but that
she and Prince William were, quote, "very concerned for Rose" as she was, quote, "a
married woman with children, and ... not used to this kind of public scrutiny."
In spite of the stress of the situation, William and Kate ignored the rumor, although their
attorneys reportedly threatened legal action against outlets spreading it. Months after
the rumors began circulating, a source told Us Weekly that it made the couple stronger,
saying:
"It forced her and William to sit back and examine their relationship, which they realized
they should have been doing more often."
While Prince William and Prince Harry have always seemed to be close, rumors of a rift
began to circulate after Harry began seeing Meghan Markle. According to royal historian
Robert Lacey, though, the alleged falling out began well before Harry and Meghan got
together. Lacey, the author of the book Battle of Brothers: William and Harry The Inside
Story of a Family in Tumult told Entertainment Tonight:
"I would say that there were stresses and strains there before and then with the advent
of Meghan, that was what provoked the really big break."
Lacey said he spoke to Ken Wolf, who served as the bodyguard to the princes in their younger
years. Wolf claimed:
"William was always sort of jealous of the lovable rogue reputation that Harry had and
the affection that he generated."
While there's no doubt that the brothers care deeply for each other, Lacey speculated that,
quote, "they're going in different directions." Prince Harry hinted at this himself in the
2019 ITV documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey.
"We're brothers, we'll always be brothers. We're on different paths at the moment, but
I'll always be there for him, as I know he'll always be there for me."
Prince William tested positive for COVID-19 in April 2020, but he kept the diagnosis secret
for months. The Sun broke the news in November 2020, revealing that the royal was, quote,
"struggling to breathe" during his illness. William came down with the virus days after
his father, Prince Charles, but didn't reveal his diagnosis to the public so as not to cause
alarm. He reportedly told someone at an engagement:
"There were important things going on and I didn't want to worry anyone."
Fortunately, William made a full recovery and even carried out quite a few speaking
engagements and other royal obligations via telephone and video calls during his illness,
even though a source told the outlet that the prince, quote, "was hit pretty hard by
the virus." The prince was determined that everything remain, quote, "business as usual
though," and the world never suspected that he was secretly battling a potentially life-threatening
virus.
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