Prince William has reflected on the challenges of parenthood as he opened up about his wife Kate’s cancer battle.

During a recent trip to Brazil, Prince William told Brazilian TV host Luciano Huck that he and Kate wanted to be honest with George, 12, Charlotte, 10, and Louis, 7.

Last year, the Princess of Wales and King Charles were both diagnosed with cancer, which was undoubtedly a difficult time for William and his entire family.

The 43-year-old said: “Every family has its own difficulties and its own challenges. It’s very individual. It’s moment-dependent, how you deal with those problems.”

“Sometimes you feel you are over-sharing with the children, and probably shouldn’t. But most of the time hiding stuff from them doesn’t work,” he added.

“So explaining how they feel… why that’s happening… gives them other viewpoints as to why they might be feeling like they are sometimes… helps give them a bigger picture and they can relax more into it rather than be really anxious about, ‘What are you hiding from me? What do I not know? Why is that happening?’ It’s how much do I say, what do I say, when do I say it?”

“There’s no manual for being a parent. You’ve just got to go with a bit of instinct,” he confessed.

Earlier this month, Prince William admitted 2024 was the “hardest year” of his life in a candid interview, in which he opened up about his wife Kate’s cancer battle.

In an episode of The Reluctant Traveller with Eugene Levy on Apple TV+, the Prince of Wales gave one of his most personal interviews to date.

William candidly confessed to Eugene: “I’d say 2024 was the hardest year that I’ve ever had.

“Trying to sort of balance protecting the children, Catherine, my father needs a bit of protection, but he’s, you know, he’s old enough to do that himself as well.”

“But it’s important that my family feels protected and has the space to process a lot of the stuff that’s gone on last year, and that was tricky trying to do that and keep doing the job,” he continued.

“But you know, we all have challenges that come our way, and it’s important to keep going. So, you know, I enjoy my job, but sometimes there are aspects of it, such as the media, the speculation, you know, the scrutiny, that make it a little bit harder than other jobs. It’s just making sure that doesn’t overtake and intrude into areas at times when you just want a bit of space, and a bit of peace and quiet.”

“You know life is sent to test us as well, and it definitely can be challenging at times, and being able to overcome that is what makes us who we are,” he said.

“You know, I’m so proud of my wife and my father for how they’ve handled all of last year. My children have managed brilliantly as well.”

When asked how Kate and Charles are doing now, he confirmed: “Yes, things are good. Everything is progressing in the right way, which is all good news.

Eugene then asked if Kate is in remission now, and he replied, “Yes, she is yes…It’s great news.”

William also confessed he finds family matters the most overwhelming thing to deal with.

“Stuff to do with family overwhelms me quite a bit,” he confessed. “Worry or stress around the family side of things does overwhelm me quite a bit. But in terms of doing the job and things like that, I don’t feel too overwhelmed by that…

“When it’s to do with family and things like that, then that’s where I start getting a bit overwhelmed — as I think most people would, because it’s more personal, it’s more about feeling, it’s more about upsetting the rhythm.”

In a rare comment about the bitter split of his parents, Princess Diana and King Charles, William said he doesn’t want to make the same mistakes as them.

“You have to have that warmth, that feeling of safety, security, love. That all has to be there, and that was certainly part of my childhood,” he said.

“My parents got divorced at 8, so that lasted a short period of time. But, you take that and you learn from it and you try and make sure you don’t do the same mistakes as your parents.

“I think we all try and do that and I just want to do what’s best for my children, but I know that the drama and the stress when you’re small really affects you when you’re older.”

William also shared how their children – Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis – coped with their mother’s illness.

“Everyone has their own coping mechanisms for these sorts of things, and children are constantly learning and adapting,” he said. “We try to make sure we give them the security and the safety that they need.”

“And we’re a very open family, so we talk about things that bother us, and things that trouble us, but you never quite know the knock-on effects that it can have. And so, it’s just important to be there for each other and to kind of reassure the children that everything is okay.”

“We’ve been very lucky; we haven’t had many illnesses in the family for a very long time,” he continued. “My grandparents lived until they were in their high nineties. So, they were the vision of fitness, and stoicism and resilience, if you like. So, we’ve been very lucky as a family.

“But I think when you suddenly realise that the rug, the metaphorical rug, can be pulled from under your feet quite quick at any point. You maybe think to yourself, ‘It won’t happen to us, we’ll be okay’ — because I think everyone has a positive outlook. You’ve got to be positive. But when it does happen to you, then yeah, it takes you into some pretty not great places.”

Elsewhere in the interview, the 43-year-old spoke about protecting his family from press intrusion.

“If you’re not careful, you can intrude so much into someone’s life that actually you start unpicking everything. And growing up, I saw that with my parents, the media were so insatiable back then — it’s hard to think of it now, but they were much more insatiable,” he explained.

“They wanted every bit of detail they could absorb, and they were in everything, literally everywhere. They would know things, they’d be everywhere. And if you let that creep in, the damage it can do to your family life is something that I vowed would never happen to my family.

“And so, I take a very strong line about where I think that line is, and those who overstep it, I’ll fight against. But equally, I understand, in my role, there is interest; you have to work with the media. So, you have to have a grown-up sort of situation with it as well. It’s about knowing where the line is and what you’re willing to put up with.”

When asked if he has a 9 to 5 work schedule, he replied, “Not really, no. It doesn’t quite work like that, but I do try and stick to school timetables as best as possible. So, most days we’re in and out of school doing pick-ups and drop-offs.”

“Getting the balance of work and family life right is really important,” he continued. “Because for me, the most important thing in my life is family, and everything is about the future and about if you don’t start the children off now with a happy, healthy, stable home, I feel you’re setting them up for a bit of a hard time and a fall.

“And so, it’s about making sure that we can look after our families, look after our children, in a way that is best for their future.”

After asked if they sit down at the dinner table together as a family, William responded, “Yep, absolutely, yep definitely. So, we sit and chat; it’s really important. None of our children have any phones, which we’re very strict about.”

In the wide-ranging interview, William also spoke about becoming King of England someday.

Although he insisted it’s “not something I wake up in the morning and think about”, the Prince of Wales said he will bring his own change to the monarchy.

“I think it’s safe to say that change is on my agenda,” he said. “Change for good. And I embrace that and I enjoy that change — I don’t fear it. That’s the bit that excites me, the idea of being able to bring some change. Not overly radical change, but changes that I think need to happen.”

When asked what he thinks about when it comes to George becoming king one day, William said, “It’s an interesting question and it’s a big question that one. Because there are lots of things to think about with that. But obviously, I want to create a world in which my son is proud of what we do, a world and a job that actually does impact people’s lives for the better.”

William then made a rare mention of his brother, Prince Harry, with whom he remains estranged, adding, “That is caveated with, I hope we don’t go back to some of the practices in the past, that Harry and I had to grow up in — and I’ll do everything I can to make sure we don’t regress in that situation.”

“If you’re not careful, history can be a real weight and an anchor around you, and you can feel suffocated by it and restricted by it too much,” he continued. “And I think it’s important to live, for the here and now.”

“I want to question things more. I think it’s very important that tradition stays, and tradition has a huge part in all of this, but there’s also points where you look at tradition and go, ‘Is that still fit for purpose today? Is that still the right thing to do? Are we still doing and having the most impact we could be having?’ So, I like to question things is what I’m really getting at.”