It was a side of Prince William we rarely see. During his appearance in the Oct. 3 episode of actor Eugene Levy’s Apple TV+ series The Reluctant Traveler, William gave the 78-year-old an unprecedented look at the inner workings of royal life, offering him an intimate tour of Windsor Castle complete with anecdotes about how his late grandmother Queen Elizabeth II “always had the best teas” and how as children he and his cousins would run up and down the Great Hall and get giant splinters on their feet. The normally reserved Prince of Wales also shared that he’s often tardy for meetings despite using an electric scooter to get around castle grounds faster. “I’m still regularly late,” he admitted with a chuckle.
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He was most candid when talking about his family, revealing that maintaining a sense of normalcy at home with wife Princess Catherine, 43, and their three kids, Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, 7, is his top priority — and that he’s determined to not repeat the “same mistakes” his parents made. The monarchy was sent into crisis by the 1996 divorce of King Charles III and the late Princess Diana when William was just 8 years old, and his own world was turned upside down. “I know that the drama and the stress when you’re small really affects you when you’re older,” the 43-year-old confessed. The future king has vowed to not repeat the past, and will do what it takes to keep his 14-year marriage to Kate — who’s currently in remission from cancer — intact no matter what life throws their way (including denying 2019 rumors he’d had an affair with family friend Rose Hanbury.) “William vowed from a very early age to spare his own children the trauma he went through,” a source tells Star. “From his perspective, divorce will never be an option.”
Painful Past
Charles and Diana’s acrimonious split dominated headlines for years. In 1995, Diana famously told interviewer Martin Bashir there had been “three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded,” referencing Charles’ affair with his current wife, Queen Camilla. On The Reluctant Traveler, William said that while feelings of “safety, security, love” were “certainly part of my childhood,” they only lasted “a short period of time.” While his estranged brother, Prince Harry, has previously written about the emotional toll of his parents’ divorce and Diana’s 1997 death, William has typically been more tight lipped. Still, the source confirms he was “very affected” by his parents’ split. “It hit William extremely hard and took him a long time to recover.”
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The royal family’s stiff-upper-lip approach did little to help him cope. After growing up in a home in which feelings were rarely discussed, he’s now committed to reversing that trend with Kate and the children. “We are an open family,” he told Eugene. “We talk about things that bother us.” Says the source: “William makes it a point to talk things over with Kate and the kids and not let frustration fester like his parents did.”
Kate’s parents, Carole and Michael Middleton — who’ve been married 45 years — provided a safe haven for William while he and Kate dated, and he often opted to spend holidays with them. “William says they’re a fantastic example of a functional, happy marriage,” says the source. (William and his mother-in-law were spotted chatting it up at the Royal Ascot in June, and Forest Lodge, William and Kate’s new home in Windsor, is a 30-minute drive from the Middletons’.) “It speaks volumes that he chose to spend so much time with the Middletons before he and Kate got married,” says the source.
Much At Stake
William and Kate’s marriage appears to be more solid than ever — he was her biggest source of support during her cancer battle after she revealed her diagnosis in March 2024, and they’ve notably become more relaxed about showing PDA in public. William has been clear that he wants the monarchy to evolve and modernize, telling Eugene that part of his agenda when he ascends to the throne will be creating “change for good.”
James Whatling
The institution can’t handle another high-profile royal divorce. “The chaos that ensued during his parents’ breakup was very damaging in terms of public perception and family morale,” says the source. “As future king, William is fiercely determined to avoid that at all costs.”
This story Prince William ‘Vowed’ to Spare His Kids the Same ‘Trauma’ He Experienced With Charles and Diana’s Divorce first appeared on Star. Add Star as a Preferred Source by clicking here.