October 4, 2025 • 10 mins
Prince William has given his most personal interview to date—over cider and scooters with Eugene Levy. In a surprising appearance on Apple TV+’s The Reluctant Traveler, the future king opens up about the pressures of 2024, family health struggles, childhood trauma, and the kind of monarch he wants to be. He speaks of Princess Catherine and King Charles’s progress, parenting without phones, missing the Queen, and rejecting the media chaos of his youth. Royal insider Deep Crown tells Palace Intrigue why William’s style may echo Harry’s—but the message couldn’t be more different.
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👑 The Palace Intrigue Social Hub is Live! Join the conversation on Facebook and Instagram or click the links to start your royal journey!
👑 Follow our hit series Crown and Controversy! Season 1 is fully available now for everyone. Season 2 starts Sunday 9/21 with new episodes every Sunday on the regular feed. GET THE FULL SEASON 2 BEFORE REGULAR LISTENERS as a subscriber! Hit that "UNINTERRUPTED LISTENING" Banner on the top of the Apple player. AND listent to Crown and Controversy "NORWAY'S ROYAL REBELS" here and get the full season as a premium subscriber now.
PREMIUM SUBSCRIBERS get Crown & Controversy seasons including Norways Royal Rebels, Deep Crown Sunday episode and COMMERCIAL FREE LISTENING!! NO ADS!!
Plus you unlock 25+ series from Caloroga Shark Media!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Caloroga Shark Media.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Hello and welcome to Palace Intrigue. I I'm your host,
Mark Francis. Prince William has offered his most candid portrait
yet of life now and the future. He envisages as King,
speaking with actor and presenter Eugene Levy for Apple TV.
Pluses at the reluctant traveler, filmed in and around windsor
framed by an easygoing tour, an electric scooter dashed to
(00:38):
the castle, a walk with a family dog, ller in
a quiet point at a local The Prince set out
a clear intent to modernize without uprooting. He said, I
think it's safe to say that changes on my agenda
change for good, and I embrace that. 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, but changes that I think need to happen.
(01:01):
The conversation was shaped by a year he describes as
testing to the core, with both the Princess of Wales
and the King navigating cancer. I'd say twenty twenty four
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
(01:22):
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. 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
(01:44):
intrude into areas at times when you just want a
bit of space and a bit of peace and quiet.
Asked directly after the princess and the king, he replied, Yes,
things are good. Everything is progressing in the right way,
which is all good news. Yes she is, Yes, it's
great news. The princip linked that resilience to a broader lesson.
We've been very lucky. We haven't had many illnesses in
(02:06):
the family for a very long time. My grandparents lived
until they were in their high nineties, so they were
a 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 realize 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, will be okay, because I think everyone has
(02:26):
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. He was unguarded about
what most unsettles him. Stuff to do with the family
overwhelms me quite a bit. Worry was stressed 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
(02:48):
do with family and things like that, that's when 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. Looking back, he credits the late
Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh with anchoring him and
misses them keenly. I do miss my grandmother and my grandfather.
It's been quite a bit of change, so you do
sort of think about them not being here anymore, and
(03:10):
particularly being in Windsor for me, Windsor is her. She
loved it here. She spent most of her time here.
I had a good relationship. My grandparents were of a
different generation. I think when we were younger it was
harder to have that very close relationship because it was
quite formal. But as they got older and I got older,
it got warmer and warmer, and I definitely think my
(03:30):
relationship was best with my grandparents when they were more
in their eighties, when they sort of relaxed a little bit.
He also drew a straight line from the turmoil of
his parents break up to the home life he and
the Princess are determined to build for Prince George, Princess Charlotte,
and Prince Lowis. You have to have that warmth, that
feeling of safety, security, love, that all has to be there,
(03:52):
and that was certainly part of my childhood. My parents
got divorced at eight, so that lasted a short period
of time. But you take that and you learn from it,
and you try to 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. Day to day, the rhythm is intentionally ordinary,
(04:15):
not really no, instead of keeping a nine to five.
It doesn't quite work like that, but I do try
and stick to school time tables as best as possible,
so most days we're in and out of school doing
pickups and drop offs. Getting the balance of work and
family life right is really important 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
(04:37):
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
the future. Meals together are non negotiable and phones are
not Yep, absolutely yep, definitely instead of sitting down as
a family, so we sit and chat. It's really important.
(04:59):
None of our children have any phones, which were very
strict about of their free time Louis loves the trampoline,
so he's obsessed with trampolining, and actually Charlotte does a
lot as well. As far as I can tell, they
just end up jumping up and down on the trampoline,
beating each other up most of the time. Apparently there
is an art to it. Charlotte does her netball as
well in a ballet, so keeping them busy with sports
(05:19):
and being outdoors is really important. They're trying to learn
musical instruments. I'm not sure how successful were being with that.
George loves his football and his hockey. There were tender
notes too, the loss of their beloved Loupo during lockdown,
which is actually the niece of our other dog, Lupo,
who sadly we lost during COVID lockdown instead of Orler
(05:40):
of Lupo's passing. Yes, we were all there, sadly, it
was very sad. On the role of the media, he said,
a firm boundary born of experience. If you're not careful,
you can intrude so much into someone's life that actually
you start on picking everything and growing up, I saw
that with my parents. The media was so insatiable back then.
It's hard to think of it now, but they were
so much more insatiable. They wanted every bit of detail
(06:03):
they could absorb, and they were in everything, literally everywhere.
There 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 vowed would never happen
to my family, and so I take a very strong
line about it 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
(06:23):
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. Even as the honors tradition, he
resists being pinned beneath it. 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. And I think it's important to live
(06:44):
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? Doing and having the most impact
we could be having. So I like to question things.
Is what I'm really getting at? There was one glance
(07:06):
ahead to another future reign as well. It's an interesting question,
and it's a big question, that one, he said of
Prince George one day becoming king, 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. That
is caveatd with I hope we don't go back to
some of the practices in the past that Harry and
(07:28):
I had to grow up in, and I'll do everything
I can to make sure we don't regress in that situation.
The hour was living with lighter assides, memories of charging
down the long corridors of Saint George's halls of child
pub crawls during his Saint Andrew's days, and a confessed
soft spot for Eugene Levy's cult comedies. I heard you
were in town, so I thought, why not get you
(07:49):
over here? I was a big fan of your earlier films,
Eugene and all the American pis. When Levy asked who
he watched them with, the answer was simple, lots of
my friends.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
You know.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
Lev for his part, left windsor struck by the tone
rather than the scoop. To me, it was just a conversation.
I wasn't thinking about it in my own mind as
any kind of scoop. He was telling me what his
thoughts were and we were able to have a little
back and forth. It was a totally surreal day for me,
and surfling back to the trials of the past year.
The Prince's closing sentiment was both personal and forward looking.
(08:21):
You know, life has sent to testers as well, and
it definitely can be challenging at times, and being able
to overcome that is what makes us who we are.
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. More Pallace in just a moment,
(08:41):
Royal inside a deep Crown tells palace intrigue. When I
saw William in conversation with Eugene Levy, I was reminded
immediately of Harry's preferred style, the casual setting, the confessional tone,
the sprinkling of celebrity. Yet the contrast could not be clearer.
Harry's interviews have too often been consumed by grievance, whereas
William's words carried intention. He was not setting scores, he
(09:02):
was outlining the monarch he means to become. William appears
to be adopting just enough of Harry's approach to connect
with a modern audience, while steering it toward a far
more constructive message. He admits to vulnerability, he speaks candidly
of family, but always returns to resilience, duty and the
promise of measured change. Where Harry looks backward, William looks forward.
It shows me William has read the public mood. He
(09:23):
understands that authenticity is now essential, yet he couples it
with a sense of direction. This was not a man
unburdening himself, but an air rehearsing the language of kingship.
And if you'd like even more from Deep Crown, don't forget.
He writes a free weekly substack with his most candid
insights into the royal family. You can find that at
Deepcrown dot co dot uk, or just search for Deep
(09:44):
Crown on Substack. For kala Ogre Plus Premium subscribers, you
can also hear Deep Crown's weekly commentary every Sunday, full
column read aloud. If you're an Apple podcast, just have
that banner up there that says uninterrupted listening to subscribe
plus tomorrow Crown and Controversy Season two. The next episode
is out along with Crown and Controversy Norway The Royal Rebels,
(10:07):
and we've got another new series coming your way soon.
We'll tell you about that. You can get those all
in advance and commercial free with the Uninterrupted Listening as
a subscriber. It's five bucks a month. Check it out.
We really appreciate your support. Bhi, Mike Francis, my Things
to John mcturmott, this is Palace Intrigue and good terms
Caloroga Shark Media.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Hello and welcome to Palace Intrigue. I I'm your host,
Mark Francis. Prince William has offered his most candid portrait
yet of life now and the future. He envisages as King,
speaking with actor and presenter Eugene Levy for Apple TV.
Pluses at the reluctant traveler, filmed in and around windsor
framed by an easygoing tour, an electric scooter dashed to
(00:38):
the castle, a walk with a family dog, ller in
a quiet point at a local The Prince set out
a clear intent to modernize without uprooting. He said, I
think it's safe to say that changes on my agenda
change for good, and I embrace that. 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, but changes that I think need to happen.
(01:01):
The conversation was shaped by a year he describes as
testing to the core, with both the Princess of Wales
and the King navigating cancer. I'd say twenty twenty four
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
(01:22):
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. 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
(01:44):
intrude into areas at times when you just want a
bit of space and a bit of peace and quiet.
Asked directly after the princess and the king, he replied, Yes,
things are good. Everything is progressing in the right way,
which is all good news. Yes she is, Yes, it's
great news. The princip linked that resilience to a broader lesson.
We've been very lucky. We haven't had many illnesses in
(02:06):
the family for a very long time. My grandparents lived
until they were in their high nineties, so they were
a 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 realize 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, will be okay, because I think everyone has
(02:26):
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. He was unguarded about
what most unsettles him. Stuff to do with the family
overwhelms me quite a bit. Worry was stressed 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
(02:48):
do with family and things like that, that's when 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. Looking back, he credits the late
Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh with anchoring him and
misses them keenly. I do miss my grandmother and my grandfather.
It's been quite a bit of change, so you do
sort of think about them not being here anymore, and
(03:10):
particularly being in Windsor for me, Windsor is her. She
loved it here. She spent most of her time here.
I had a good relationship. My grandparents were of a
different generation. I think when we were younger it was
harder to have that very close relationship because it was
quite formal. But as they got older and I got older,
it got warmer and warmer, and I definitely think my
(03:30):
relationship was best with my grandparents when they were more
in their eighties, when they sort of relaxed a little bit.
He also drew a straight line from the turmoil of
his parents break up to the home life he and
the Princess are determined to build for Prince George, Princess Charlotte,
and Prince Lowis. You have to have that warmth, that
feeling of safety, security, love, that all has to be there,
(03:52):
and that was certainly part of my childhood. My parents
got divorced at eight, so that lasted a short period
of time. But you take that and you learn from it,
and you try to 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. Day to day, the rhythm is intentionally ordinary,
(04:15):
not really no, instead of keeping a nine to five.
It doesn't quite work like that, but I do try
and stick to school time tables as best as possible,
so most days we're in and out of school doing
pickups and drop offs. Getting the balance of work and
family life right is really important 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
(04:37):
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
the future. Meals together are non negotiable and phones are
not Yep, absolutely yep, definitely instead of sitting down as
a family, so we sit and chat. It's really important.
(04:59):
None of our children have any phones, which were very
strict about of their free time Louis loves the trampoline,
so he's obsessed with trampolining, and actually Charlotte does a
lot as well. As far as I can tell, they
just end up jumping up and down on the trampoline,
beating each other up most of the time. Apparently there
is an art to it. Charlotte does her netball as
well in a ballet, so keeping them busy with sports
(05:19):
and being outdoors is really important. They're trying to learn
musical instruments. I'm not sure how successful were being with that.
George loves his football and his hockey. There were tender
notes too, the loss of their beloved Loupo during lockdown,
which is actually the niece of our other dog, Lupo,
who sadly we lost during COVID lockdown instead of Orler
(05:40):
of Lupo's passing. Yes, we were all there, sadly, it
was very sad. On the role of the media, he said,
a firm boundary born of experience. If you're not careful,
you can intrude so much into someone's life that actually
you start on picking everything and growing up, I saw
that with my parents. The media was so insatiable back then.
It's hard to think of it now, but they were
so much more insatiable. They wanted every bit of detail
(06:03):
they could absorb, and they were in everything, literally everywhere.
There 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 vowed would never happen
to my family, and so I take a very strong
line about it 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
(06:23):
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. Even as the honors tradition, he
resists being pinned beneath it. 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. And I think it's important to live
(06:44):
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? Doing and having the most impact
we could be having. So I like to question things.
Is what I'm really getting at? There was one glance
(07:06):
ahead to another future reign as well. It's an interesting question,
and it's a big question, that one, he said of
Prince George one day becoming king, 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. That
is caveatd with I hope we don't go back to
some of the practices in the past that Harry and
(07:28):
I had to grow up in, and I'll do everything
I can to make sure we don't regress in that situation.
The hour was living with lighter assides, memories of charging
down the long corridors of Saint George's halls of child
pub crawls during his Saint Andrew's days, and a confessed
soft spot for Eugene Levy's cult comedies. I heard you
were in town, so I thought, why not get you
(07:49):
over here? I was a big fan of your earlier films,
Eugene and all the American pis. When Levy asked who
he watched them with, the answer was simple, lots of
my friends.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
You know.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
Lev for his part, left windsor struck by the tone
rather than the scoop. To me, it was just a conversation.
I wasn't thinking about it in my own mind as
any kind of scoop. He was telling me what his
thoughts were and we were able to have a little
back and forth. It was a totally surreal day for me,
and surfling back to the trials of the past year.
The Prince's closing sentiment was both personal and forward looking.
(08:21):
You know, life has sent to testers as well, and
it definitely can be challenging at times, and being able
to overcome that is what makes us who we are.
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. More Pallace in just a moment,
(08:41):
Royal inside a deep Crown tells palace intrigue. When I
saw William in conversation with Eugene Levy, I was reminded
immediately of Harry's preferred style, the casual setting, the confessional tone,
the sprinkling of celebrity. Yet the contrast could not be clearer.
Harry's interviews have too often been consumed by grievance, whereas
William's words carried intention. He was not setting scores, he
(09:02):
was outlining the monarch he means to become. William appears
to be adopting just enough of Harry's approach to connect
with a modern audience, while steering it toward a far
more constructive message. He admits to vulnerability, he speaks candidly
of family, but always returns to resilience, duty and the
promise of measured change. Where Harry looks backward, William looks forward.
It shows me William has read the public mood. He
(09:23):
understands that authenticity is now essential, yet he couples it
with a sense of direction. This was not a man
unburdening himself, but an air rehearsing the language of kingship.
And if you'd like even more from Deep Crown, don't forget.
He writes a free weekly substack with his most candid
insights into the royal family. You can find that at
Deepcrown dot co dot uk, or just search for Deep
(09:44):
Crown on Substack. For kala Ogre Plus Premium subscribers, you
can also hear Deep Crown's weekly commentary every Sunday, full
column read aloud. If you're an Apple podcast, just have
that banner up there that says uninterrupted listening to subscribe
plus tomorrow Crown and Controversy Season two. The next episode
is out along with Crown and Controversy Norway The Royal Rebels,
(10:07):
and we've got another new series coming your way soon.
We'll tell you about that. You can get those all
in advance and commercial free with the Uninterrupted Listening as
a subscriber. It's five bucks a month. Check it out.
We really appreciate your support. Bhi, Mike Francis, my Things
to John mcturmott, this is Palace Intrigue and good terms
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