Prince William doesn’t frequently wear his heart on his sleeve, but he spoke out recently with Apple‘s Time To Walk, recalling his mother, the late Princess Diana, his family’s love of music and the trauma he went through as a pilot.
He says his mom would crank on Tina Turner‘s “The Best” in the bar to help William and brother Prince Harry cope with “the anxiety of going back to school”.
William, 39, who was 15 when the Princess of Wales died in 1997, continued, “My mother, she’d be driving along singing at the top of her voice. We’d even get the policeman security in the car: he’d occasionally be singing along as well. We’d be singing and listening to the music right the way up to the gates at school where they dropped you off.”
Music Love
He says that his trio of kids with Kate Middleton have also “inherited my family’s love of music. Most mornings there’s a massive fight between Charlotte and George as to what song is played in the morning.”
Bon Jovi
He also recalls that time he joined Jon Bon Jovi onstage, courtesy of Taylor Swift: “So, around about – it must be nearly 10 years ago now – I can't believe I'm actually telling this story. I went to a charity fundraising gala for Centrepoint, which is a young homeless charity that I am very fond of and have supported for many years. It's an annual fundraiser, and I turn up, and Jon Bon Jovi and Taylor Swift are at the event, which nearly knocked me off my feet, as well.”
“When I sat down to watch Jon Bon Jovi do his performance, I thought, 'That's it. My job is done. I'll get a dinner in a minute, and I might be able to have a chat to some people, and, you know, I'm off-duty a little bit now.' Little did I think what was going to happen next,” he continues.
“I'm sat next to Taylor Swift. She's on my left. And after Jon does his first song, there's a pause, and she turns to me. She puts her hand on my arm, looks me in the eye, and says, 'Come on, William. Let's go and sing,' ” he recalls.
“I walked up on stage in a trance, and then sort of halfway through Jon Bon Jovi's “Livin' On a Prayer” song, I wake up,” he says. “And I'm thinking to myself, 'Am I standing on the stage singing 'Livin' On a Prayer' when I don't even know the words?'
Pilot
William also worked as an air ambulance pilot and reveals that it was rough going.
“The moment I started the helicopter training, I realized that it was better than anything. It was one of those things that I just instantly took to and thought, 'This is really cool.' I really enjoy it,” says William, who began working with the East Anglian Air Ambulance in 2015 and left the role in 2017 to focus on his royal duties.
But on the job, the royal faced “difficult situations.”
“Seeing patients and families ripped apart on almost a daily basis, that routine, you just get into a habit of head down and get on with it,” he says.
The show bows today (Monday).
