The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy (2023) s03e04 Episode Script

1
[whimsical music plays]
I'm the living example of
"better late than never."
Until a few years ago, my life was steady,
predictable, reassuringly repetitive.
But my recent adventures have
changed all that.
So what's next for me?
Now that I'm considered something
of a traveller,
I've challenged myself
to complete my own bucket list
before actually kicking the bucket.
I did a lot of research,
kept an open mind…
- Who's going hiking in the Amazon?
- [animals chittering]
…and came up with a list of my own.
Take a look at this.
[fireworks exploding]
- [guide] Welcome to London.
- [tourists cheer]
Never felt more like a tourist.
These are some of the greatest…
[exclaims]
…once-in-a-lifetime travel experiences
you can have.
Don't take this the wrong way,
but this is a horrible ride.
[laughs]
Tick that off the bucket list.
- This is my first time in Ireland.
- Of course, I've been here before.
- Yep. Once.
- Once or twice.
- Once.
- Once.
Whether they should be
once in my lifetime…
- [crowd cheering]
- Oh!
…is another matter.
- Whoo-hoo!
- But I'd like to think
I've gotten a little bit bolder.
It's hard to believe I'm actually here.
A little bit braver.
What a save!
Course I work well under pressure.
So this could be
my most memorable trip yet.
Was getting drunk with Prince William
on your bucket list?
- That's the bucket.
- [chuckles] That's the bucket, is it?
[bell tolls]
[Eugene Levy] This red bus is on
the wrong side of the road,
which can only mean one thing:
I'm in England.
[guide] Okay, everybody.
Welcome to London.
Everyone excited to be here?
[all cheering]
Fantastic.
I've never felt more like a tourist.
There are lots of reasons to be a fan of
the UK's capital city,
but for me, it's all about one thing:
the monarchy.
I've never really explored
the royal aspect of it before
and it's kind of what makes it exciting
to come to London.
Being Canadian, we are members of
the British Commonwealth.
When I was, you know, a young lad,
we would start every day in school
by, of course,
doing the pledge of allegiance
and then singing "God Save the Queen".
It's been a long-distance relationship
my whole life,
so for this bucket list experience,
I'm spending a few days
taking a closer look at all things royal.
[guide] On the right-hand side
is St Paul's Cathedral.
Prince Charles and Lady Diana
got married there in 1981.
And here we are at Westminster Abbey.
This is where
the royal coronations take place.
Okay, and now we have Buckingham Palace
on your left-hand side.
The official royal residence
for His Majesty King Charles III.
This is royalty.
We're looking right at it.
I mean, just look around.
I've never seen more gold
lining every fence.
This could be the most famous balcony
in the world.
I mean, it's not much,
but they call it home.
I like the idea of
being treated like a king,
so I'm staying just five minutes
from the palace
at the only hotel in the world to be
awarded a royal warrant for hospitality.
- Mr. Levy.
- Hello.
Very warm welcome to The Goring.
We're delighted to have you here.
[Levy] Well, this is
an absolutely beautiful hotel.
[manager] Since 1910, we had every British
reigning monarch visiting the hotel.
[Levy] Stunning.
Let me lead you the way
to the royal suite now.
Sure.
[Levy] In 2011,
a certain Catherine Middleton
stayed in the same suite
the night before
her wedding to Prince William.
[manager] Eugene, may I introduce you
to Oliver, your footman.
Mr. Levy, it's a pleasure to meet you.
Uh, nice to meet you, Oliver.
- This I like.
- [manager] After you.
Thank you.
It's just charming and so very quaint.
Here we go.
- Wow.
- This is the master bedroom.
Is there anything else I can do for you?
[Levy] I think that's it for now.
Thank you.
I'd love to have been a fly on these walls
the night before the big wedding day.
Something tells me Catherine wasn't
kind of tearing it up. You know?
I don't think she was
throwing things off the balcony.
Having a spot of tea.
I'm feeling very, very British right now.
I'm gonna put this over here
and let my footman take care of the rest.
[sighs]
Yeah.
[doorbell rings]
- Mr. Levy, sir.
- Oliver.
Just have some correspondence
there for you, sir.
[Levy] Ah.
Thank you.
Kensington Palace,
and there's a W on the insignia.
Did you know about this? All right.
"Dear, Eugene." Handwritten.
This is crazy. Oh, my God.
"I heard that your travels
have brought you to the UK
and I wondered if you might
like to see Windsor Castle."
Which I was going to see, of course.
"If you're free at 10:00 tomorrow,
why don't you pop down to the castle for
a private tour? Would be great to see you.
With best wishes, William."
[laughs]
Okay. All right.
From the Prince of Wales. Future king.
Okay, now I'm getting hot.
I'm actually kind of flushed.
[chuckles] Okay.
"Would be great to see you."
Would be great to see you.
This is really, really lovely.
Being in this room is as close
as I think I've come to a royal.
There's actually another note.
"Meet at the Quadrangle,
Windsor Castle, 10 a.m."
Ah.
"Dress code: suitable for a dog walk."
It seems Catherine isn't the only one
who gets to stay here
before a nerve-racking rendezvous
with Prince William.
This calls for
something stronger than tea.
Yes, hi, Oliver.
I'd like to order up a vodka martini.
And if you could bring up
some dog biscuits.
Thank you. Bye-bye.
I'm excited about tomorrow,
to spend a little time with the man
who will be the next king of England.
Someone many of us watched grow up.
His, uh, mother Princess Diana
and his father, then Prince Charles.
Those are the images that I remember.
In particular, the images with his mother.
All his important milestones,
moments of heartache,
and heart-warming occasions.
Their wedding day, William and Catherine,
it was a spectacle.
Everybody watched,
and everybody was so enamoured with them.
It was almost a Hollywood version
of what a royal couple should be.
That's the William that we think we know,
but… [stammers] …I don't know
whether we actually really know him.
Luckily, tomorrow, I'll get to find out.
Eugene, here we are.
We have arranged a beautiful car
to take you to Windsor now, so…
- It'll do.
- [chuckles]
[Levy] This is gonna be a fun day.
To reach the castle,
I'm travelling 22 miles west of London.
I would love to find out
what it's like to be a royal.
I mean, what is it like
behind the palace walls?
What is a workday like?
I mean, is it kind of a 9 to 5 thing?
Well, we're definitely out of the city,
and we're into
the, uh, English countryside.
And it's beautiful.
Windsor sits right on
the bank of the River Thames.
It's very quaint.
I wonder if the citizens of Windsor
feel special
because they are neighbours of the royals.
Guess who lives across the street?
The king.
Oh, my. There it is. Look at this.
Right… Almost right in town.
Literally across the road.
That's the castle.
Incredibly, this was built
almost 1000 years ago.
It's the oldest continuously
occupied castle in the world.
Think about all the people that have been
romping around here over the years,
all the kings and queens.
Henry VIII, Queen Victoria,
40 monarchs have lived here.
It's crazy.
Getting a few palpitations right now,
but it's, uh, it's all good,
and the day is perfect.
It's just kind of a drizzly, rainy day.
Could not be more English.
Thank you.
Well, so far, so good.
I'm on time.
I do know he's not prompt.
And don't think
I won't be bringing that up.
I'm very excited.
Oh.
[chuckles]
Note to self:
bucket lists are far from predictable.
[chuckling]
Eugene, good morning.
- Your Royal Highness.
- [chuckles]
- [chuckles]
- Nice to see you.
This is not what I was expecting.
- This is your mode of transportation?
- It is round here.
- On the grounds?
- Yeah. Yeah.
I have a very low threshold for adventure,
so I've actually never
been on one of these.
It gets around quite nicely around here.
It's quite fun.
- But it's good to see you.
- It's good to see you.
- Very nice to have you here.
- This is your home?
- Yes. Not in the castle.
- I mean…
So, we live down outside the castle.
My father spends a lot of time here but we
don't actually live in the castle itself.
But we come and use the castle
for work and for meetings,
- and seeing people.
- Oh, I see.
And I'm always late, so I thought this was
the way to keep my meetings on time.
I'm still regularly late, Eugene, anyway.
- [chuckles]
- I see.
I have managed to get myself a puncture
this morning, which is quite amusing.
That's why I was going so slowly
up the road. [chuckles]
[Levy] Maybe I'll let
his time-keeping slide, just this once.
I heard you were in town, so I thought,
uh, why not get you over here.
I was a big fan of
your earlier films, Eugene.
- All the American Pies were a big…
- Uh-oh.
Yeah, I'm afraid I was, uh,
I was of that generation.
I have to ask,
who did you see American Pie with?
Oh, lots of my friends.
- It was massive. Yeah.
- With your friends?
He likes my movies,
so that's a good start.
Windsor Castle was definitely
on the bucket list.
- Good.
- I was prepared to buy a ticket
and take the tour,
but, uh, then your…
your invitation came through.
You might still have to do that, Eugene.
My tour's rubbish!
Who needs a… Who needs a ticket?
If you want to know about history,
I'm not the guy, by the way.
So, shall we head on in
and have a look around?
- Would love to do that.
- Brilliant. Good.
Come and show you what's happening
inside Windsor Castle.
- Let's do.
- I'll pop this up.
[Levy] A prince on a scooter.
He's certainly not afraid
to rule with the times.
[Prince William] We'll go round there,
and then up the stairs.
[Levy] How do you know where you're going?
[Prince William] I don't, usually.
There are more than
a thousand rooms in this place,
so I better not let William
out of my sight.
- We're going through here, Eugene.
- Ah.
Even for a royal residence,
this castle contains some
serious collector's items.
[Prince William]
It's quite a spectacular room.
Or, I guess, what the Windsors
call "family heirlooms".
- Oh, my.
- This is the King's Drawing Room.
- Oh.
- Um…
Which is still very similar to
what it was many years ago.
Obviously, some things have changed
and been refurbished and renovated,
but it's kept in very good nick.
But I thought this was
quite a good spot to come and look out,
because from out here you can see…
you see the grounds much better.
And also,
out there you've got Eton College,
- that's where I went to school.
- Yeah.
[Prince William] That's college chapel,
that large building there.
How old were you when you were at Eton?
Thirteen to 18.
So, I was within a few miles
of my… my grandparents.
So, you would pop over from Eton…
Sometimes on weekends, sometimes if
I could get away in an evening
when there was nothing else going on.
I'd come around and have a bit of tea with
her 'cause she had the best teas ever.
So, I used to get well fed.
I'd come around to have a chat with her
and see how she was
and just sort of, you know,
check in and see how she was doing.
Have a chat about family stuff,
a bit of work stuff maybe,
sometimes about what was going on.
Um, mostly just to tell stories really,
uh, about whatever I was up to.
And you had a great relationship?
[Prince William] Yeah,
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 relationship
was best with my grandparents
when they were
more in their, sort of, 80s.
Um, when they'd, sort of,
relaxed a little bit.
My grandfather was incredibly amusing,
sometimes not deliberately, um,
- sometimes by accident.
- [laughs] Okay.
But we had a lot of laughs
and he had a great sense of humour,
as did my grandmother as well, actually.
But, um, uh, my grandfather definitely was
the one who'd create quite a few laughs.
And it was, you know, it was happy times.
There was always a warmness.
There was always a laughter.
There was always, um, a family feel.
And my grandparents loved
having the family around them,
so we were always encouraged
to turn up and be around.
- Could you make them laugh too?
- Oh, yes.
You had to be careful about your timing.
And who it was about.
So, you had to pick and choose
your moments to make them laugh.
[Levy laughs]
[Levy] Now that's an audience
I'd be nervous playing to.
But as a grandparent myself,
it's the laughs I want my grandson
to remember me by.
Do you miss your grandmother?
I do actually, yeah. I do miss
my grandmother, and my grandfather.
Yeah, it's been quite a bit of change,
so you do, sort of, you think about them
not being here anymore.
And particularly being in Windsor.
For me Windsor is her.
So, she loved it here.
She spent most of her time here.
Showing you around today is very much
a case of trying to make sure
I'm doing it the way
she'd want you to see it.
She had her horses here as well,
as you can imagine was a big deal for her,
so that's why she loved it here.
- Uh, did a lot of riding here?
- Did a lot of riding, yeah.
She'd have a, um…
She'd have a head scarf on.
She hardly ever wore a helmet
until she got older.
- She used to wear just the head scarf.
- I know. That's an image
- we were all very familiar with, right?
- [Prince William] Yeah.
Most people who used this place
would see her on a daily basis,
so it wasn't such a big deal,
suddenly, if The Queen rode past
or The Queen walked past.
She was out walking her dogs
or she was out on a horse. Whatever. So…
Well, I just don't understand how that
would ever be kind of just, you know,
- commonplace. But, uh…
- [laughs] Well…
When you live and, you know,
use the grounds here,
it's kind of second nature
to see them all the time.
[Levy] What a sight that would have been.
If she's looking down
on her favourite castle now,
she's probably wondering
who this Canadian guy is.
I thought we'd stop and look at this,
uh, picture of my grandmother.
It's quite a large and wonderful painting.
[Levy sighs] Wow.
She posed for quite a few paintings.
[Prince William] She did quite a few.
She did.
Was this something she enjoyed?
I think she felt it a little bit more,
um, part of the job.
Part of the role is to
historically mark those moments.
And I think she preferred being painted
than she did being photographed.
I'm not fond of pictures either.
I think you'd look good
as an oil painting, Eugene.
- You'd look quite good in oil.
- I would actually love to have one done
just to try and capture who I…
who I, you know, really am.
It feels like we're adding more to your
bucket list today than taking stuff off.
[Levy laughs]
[Levy] She was a very impressive woman.
[Prince William] You can see the enormous
robes that she had to carry as well.
It's very heavy, it's very warm,
and so it weighs quite a bit.
You could have used it on the scooter.
It would've been very helpful. It probably
would've been billowing in the wind.
We'll head through here.
We've moved a lot of the awards
now into this room,
which, as you can see,
is pretty spectacular.
[Levy] I wasn't going to mention this,
but he brought up the awards, so…
Well, in terms of investitures,
I became a Member of the Order of Canada,
and, uh, recently, uh, was promoted
to Companion of the Order.
And, uh, you know,
you might want to
drop that in, uh, conversation
- over the dinner table tonight. [laughs]
- Sure, Eugene. I'll bring that up.
Is there another level
you'd like to go to?
- Is that what we're talking about?
- This is the top level.
- Yeah, that's…
- We're not angling for
- another bucket list moment here, are we?
- Uh, yes.
There… There may be another level,
- but not necessarily of this world.
- Understood.
[Levy] Everything is quite spectacular.
I mean, this is my, uh,
first trip to the castle.
[Prince William] We provide
this service for everyone.
We do personalised tours everywhere.
[both laugh]
[Levy sighs]
[Prince William] This is St George's Hall.
Which, actually, is one of my favourite
parts of the whole castle.
My cousins and I and the family
would chase each other
up and down here and do silly games.
I remember these carpets weren't here,
and there were a couple of spots
where you used to have to watch out
because you'd get massive splinters
because the old floor was
so old wood and old oak floor.
- So this was just a wood floor?
- This was a really dark wooden oak floor.
- So, when you went running off…
- [laughs]
…you'd end up coming away
and you'd have an enormous splinter.
And everyone would be like, "Stop! Stop!"
And someone had a splinter,
sort of, that big in their foot.
So now, it's a lot easier.
My children don't realise
how lucky they are.
They've got a big old carpet. They can
run down and there's no splinters.
We come in after hours
and chase each other around sometimes.
[Levy] Splinters or not,
everyone's childhood home
has a story to tell,
but this one more than most.
Do you ever get overwhelmed,
just by the sheer history of the place?
When you say it like that,
it sounds like I should say yes.
- [laughs]
- [laughs] Okay.
But I wouldn't say history overwhelms me.
Other things overwhelm me,
but not history, no.
Because I think if you're not careful,
history can be a real weight
and an anchor round you,
and you can feel suffocated by it,
and restricted by it too much.
And I think it's important to live
for the here and now.
But also, I think if you're too
intrinsically attached to the history,
you can't possibly have any flexibility
because you worry that
the chess pieces move too much
and therefore no change will happen.
And I like a little bit of change.
I guess what you're saying
is you want to open up some…
I want to question things more.
- That's it. Okay.
- That's what I'm saying.
I think it's very important
that tradition stays,
and tradition has
a huge part to 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?"
Um, "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.
If history doesn't overwhelm you,
is there anything that does?
Um, yeah, I think stuff to do with family
overwhelms me, quite a bit.
You know, worry, or, um,
stress around the family side of things,
that does overwhelm me quite a bit.
But in terms of, you know,
doing the job and things like that,
I… I don't feel too overwhelmed by that.
Um, not now anyway.
When I was younger, yeah,
there are bits that overwhelm you.
A bit like, "Whoa,
are we actually doing this?
- Is this sort of happening?"
- Yeah.
But with… with time and age,
I think you feel a bit more settled
in that side of things
and you go, "Actually, I can do that."
Um, and even if a few curveballs come in,
that doesn't necessarily overwhelm me.
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,
um, because it's more personal,
it's more about feeling,
it's more about, um, upsetting the rhythm,
if you like.
[Levy] I wasn't expecting to chat
to William like any other guy.
But what I'm realising is,
despite all the grandeur,
this castle's actually a home,
and the famous history that happened here,
is his family's story.
- And this… this is the Lantern Lobby.
- Wow.
[Prince William] This is
Henry VIII's armour,
which I always think is quite amusing
because he's not that big. [chuckles]
He had a big historical presence,
and a big historical narrative around him.
But, actually, not a particularly
tall man. Slightly round.
- [Levy] Wow. He loved a good meal.
- Yeah.
- He loved a good meal, exactly that.
- A chunk of venison probably.
- Definitely.
- I'm thinking of the people
who have wandered these hallways.
Henry VIII, Richard III, Elizabeth I.
You're probably the one family
who would never have to go on
Who Do You Think You Are?
to learn more about
your family tree, I would imagine.
I think I probably need some
history lessons, Eugene.
So, I could do with that.
George, my son, is way better
in history than I am
and I have to check
with him now on my dates.
[Levy] And talking of dates,
this room will always be known
for one in particular.
As you can see here, it marks where
the fire started in Windsor Castle.
So, 20th of November 1992,
I still remember,
I was having my dinner at home
in Gloucestershire, uh, with my mother.
And I saw my father on television
with my grandparents,
taking everything out of the castle.
It was all over the news at the time.
- So you were watching?
- Yeah. We were watching it happen.
- Yeah. I must have been…
- On television?
…'92, so I was ten.
[Levy] You couldn't
probably put it all together…
[Prince William] No,
at the time you're watching it, you can't.
Also, when it's on television,
you feel it's a film,
- so it kind of doesn't feel real, so…
- [Levy] Right.
- You just recognise your family.
- You recognise people on there,
doing things that, probably,
it was difficult to do.
- And it destroyed?
- All this.
- All this…
- And all of that,
St George's Hall.
So the roof was completely gone.
The walls were fairly
badly damaged as well.
So, the whole roof fell in.
[Levy] I remember seeing news footage
of your grandmother, Queen Elizabeth,
who was on the grounds.
[Prince William] Yeah. So, my grandmother,
my grandfather, my father came as well,
and I think my aunts
and uncles came here too.
And they were all part of the team,
like a sort of human chain
taking stuff out of the castle
as quickly as they could.
I gather that also, very sadly,
your house was affected badly recently,
in the fires?
Well, we did. We lost a home
in the California fires this year.
I'm sorry to hear… so sorry to hear that.
It was like a horror movie
in a way, right?
Evacuation notices went out,
we were packing up and getting out.
Maybe three hours later,
got news the place was gone.
Over here, we were watching.
The winds just looked
- terrifyingly fast.
- The winds were almost
- 100 miles an hour that night.
- Yeah.
I'm so sorry for you
and everyone who's lost their house.
Um, fires…
fires feel very emotive, don't they?
It doesn't matter
whether you're in a castle
or a bungalow, it doesn't…
- You know, the pain is still there.
- Yeah, definitely.
But the… the thing is, for me is,
this is such a positive story,
to see what can be rebuilt,
it's incredible, you know?
People walking around here
after the first few weeks,
were looking at this and going, "How?"
And "This is never going to come back."
And now look at it.
Listen, I want to show you
around the grounds as well.
So shall we head this way?
There's someone outside
I'd like you to meet.
[Levy] And by someone, he means his dog.
So, while he's off fetching his pooch,
I've been given a free pass
to wander around.
Well, that's what I call a tour, okay?
I mean, this is something
you don't see back home.
This grand structure,
it is an art gallery, it's a museum,
but it's also the home
to the Royal Family.
I've never been able to
tangibly reach out and touch history
the way I've been able to do
here at Windsor Castle.
And, as if things
couldn't get any more surreal,
we're going to, uh, take a dog walk
around the private gardens.
You know, I'm not really sure whether, uh,
his dog has a title…
- [Levy laughs]
- Good girl.
- Who's this?
- This is Orla.
- Orla?
- Yeah.
- Say hello. Say hello.
- Hi, honey.
- Oh, my goodness. Look at you.
- Good girl.
- Wow. [chuckles]
- [kisses] Good girl.
- So sweet.
- Down, down, down. Good girl.
She thought there was a walk on,
so now she's very over-excited
about having a walk.
- Oh, my, my.
- Yeah.
- Well, look what I, uh, got.
- Good girl.
- It's some dog treats for little Orla.
- Oh, very nice.
[chuckles] Let's see if she likes them.
She might take them off you.
- She might… Try it.
- You think? Is this good?
There's a chance she rejects them,
so it's a 50/50 call. See what happens.
Let me see. Orla!
- Oh, you like that! There you go.
- What do you think?
- [chuckles]
- Huh?
Oh, my goodness.
This is going down well.
Look, you're getting the look,
which is like, "Please feed me."
- And that'll do it.
- Yeah.
- Oh, my goodness…
- Oh!
So, she's actually the niece of,
um, our other dog, Lupo,
who, sadly, we lost in lockdown.
- Were you there when it happened?
- Yeah we were all there, sadly.
- It was very sad. Yeah.
- Oh, I'm sorry.
- She likes you now.
- Yeah, she likes me now, doesn't she?
- Aw!
- You'll be… You'll be top of the list.
[plane flies overhead]
Uh…
- William, what about these planes?
- [chuckles] Yes.
[Levy] Heathrow Airport,
obviously, is pretty close to here.
It's very close.
It's not far over that way at all.
- You can't do anything about it?
- N… Not legally anyway! [chuckles]
Well, you've got… you've got canons.
[Prince William] We do have canons. I'm
not sure that's probably the best advice.
The tour guides get to hear
some funny stories.
We heard back one time, that, uh…
I won't name
the nationality of the tourist,
but they're looking
around the castle going,
"Wow, this place is incredible,
but why did they have to build the castle
so close to Heathrow Airport?"
[Levy chuckles]
[Prince William laughs]
Which has gone down
as the sort of number one quote
of a tourist going around Windsor Castle.
Which I thought you'd appreciate.
I mean, I know my history is bad,
but that's another level.
[Levy] Well, I never thought plane
spotting would be a feature of royal life.
Your work day would be what?
Would you call it a 9:00 to 5:00?
- [Prince William] Not really, no.
- Okay.
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, um,
family life right is really important.
Because for me, the most important thing
in my life, um, 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 we feel is best for their future.
That importance of, kind of,
having a relatively normal home life,
I think started with you
and your mother as well.
[Prince William] Yeah, definitely. I think
it's really important that that atmosphere
is created at home.
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.
My parents got divorced at eight, so, you
know, that lasted a short period of time.
But you take that and you…
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.
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.
[Levy] As a dad myself,
I can relate to that feeling of
just trying to do right by your kids.
- What do you do when you're home?
- [chuckles]
- Sleep. [chuckles]
- Really?
When you've got three small children,
sleep was an important part of my life
- recently, and now luckily…
- [chuckles]
…they're at a certain age where, unless
they're ill, they do sleep pretty well.
So that's a bit of relief,
but when you've got
three small children growing up
and they're waking up
at all sorts in the night,
um, it is quite exhausting,
as every parent will tell you.
Do you all sit down
at the dinner table together?
- Yep, absolutely. Yeah, definitely.
- Yeah?
Um, so we sit and chat.
It's really important.
None of our children have any phones,
um, which we're very strict about.
- That is really interesting.
- Yeah.
[Levy] So, if your kids
don't have phones to play with,
what do they play with?
What do they love doing?
So, Louis loves the trampoline.
So he's obsessed by trampolining and,
actually, Charlotte does a lot as well.
As far as I can tell, they end up jumping
up and down on the trampoline,
beating each other up,
um, most of the time.
Apparently, there is an art to it.
Um, Charlotte does
her netball as well and her ballet.
And so keeping them busy with sports and
just being outdoors is really important.
Um, they're trying to learn
musical instruments.
I'm not sure how successful
we're being with that.
George loves his football, his hockey.
- And are you a football fan yourself?
- Yes, Eugene.
- So…
- Wait, who is your team?
[Prince William] I support Aston Villa.
Have you heard of them?
Tom Hanks is a big fan.
[Levy] Okay,
maybe that's where I've heard it.
[Prince William] You might've heard
of Aston Villa from there.
And I love the story that Tom tells about
why he suddenly supported Aston Villa
because when he was looking
for a team to support,
he saw the words Aston Villa,
and thought that sounded
like quite a sunshine nice
villa place to go.
[both laugh]
When, actually, if he turns up
to Birmingham, it's not that sunshiny.
[Levy] Still, if they're good enough
for Tom Hanks and Prince William,
then they're good enough for me.
It's official:
I am now an Aston Villa fan.
Which is surely a cause for celebration.
[Prince William] So we might need to go
to a pub if you fancy a quick drink.
- Show you a bit of Windsor.
- A pub?
[Levy] I would love that.
I could go for a, you know, a pint.
Was getting drunk in a Windsor pub
with Prince William on your bucket list?
[laughs]
- [Prince William laughs]
- Well, that's… that's the bucket.
- That's the bucket, is it? [laughs]
- That is the bucket itself, yes.
That would be something.
He might be a royal,
but he's still British.
It was only going to be a matter of time
before we ended up in a pub.
Look, see that picture of
Concorde flying over the castle?
- [Levy] Yeah.
- That's quite cool.
Come on through, Eugene.
Can I get you a drink?
Uh, yes. Yes, you can.
- What do you fancy?
- Yes, you can. What do I fancy?
- I'm going to have a Guinness.
- A pint of Guinness?
- Can I have a cider?
- [bartender] Sweet or dry?
- Uh, sweet, please.
- [bartender] Sweet.
[Prince William] Thank you.
Do you know how many pubs
we had at St Andrews?
The university where I was in Scotland.
- [Levy] How many pubs in the town?
- In the town.
I'm going to guess 35.
Not bad. Forty-five.
The mission was to get around
all 45 pubs in one go,
which I don't think anyone's ever man…
I'm sure someone's managed it.
- None of my lot managed it.
- [Levy] Ooh.
- Ooh.
- It's quite a feat, 45 pubs.
- Thank you very much.
- Thank you.
Come and grab a seat over here.
And I'll go there.
- I'll sit in there, sure.
- Yeah.
- Yes.
- And Orla, you can sit under the table.
Be a good girl. Okay.
- Here's to Windsor Castle.
- Very nice to meet you.
Windsor Castle, exactly that.
You spend a lot of time talking about
your family
and how it's a priority, right?
This last year,
your wife and father have been ill.
How are things now, first of all?
Yeah, things are good.
Um, everything is progressing in
the right way, um, which is all good news.
But, it's, um, yeah, it's been…
I'd say 2024 was the hardest year
I've ever had.
Um, trying to sort of balance
protecting the children,
Catherine, um,
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
my family feel protected
and have the space to kind of 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.
Um, but, you know, we…
we all have challenges that come our way,
and it's important to,
kind of, keep… keep going.
So… And I enjoy my job,
but sometimes there are aspects of it,
um, such as the media,
the speculation, you know, the scrutiny,
that make it a little bit harder
than other jobs.
And it's just making sure that
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're unable to just say, "Time out".
And I think it's also important
because 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, is that, um,
the media were so insatiable back then.
It's hard to think of it now,
but they were much more insatiable.
- Mm-hmm.
- And 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.
- Mm-hmm.
- And so I take a very strong line about
where I think that line is
and those who overstep it,
um, you know, I'll fight against.
Um, but equally I understand,
in my role there is interest,
you have to work with the media,
they're all there.
So, you have to have a grown-up
sort of situation with it as well.
And it's about knowing where the line is
and what you're willing to put up with.
That was one of the toughest
aspects of that year,
over and above the illness itself,
which is horrible
for anybody to deal with.
- And Catherine is in remission now?
- Yes.
- She is, yeah. It's great news. Exactly.
- Yes. Which is wonderful news.
How did that affect the children,
if I may ask?
Everyone has their own coping mechanisms
for these sorts of things,
and children are constantly
learning and adapting.
We try to make sure we give them the
security and the safety that they need.
Um, 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 it can have.
And so it's just important
to be there for each other
and to kind of reassure, um,
the children that everything is okay.
Right.
Uh, when I was a kid,
and this is going back…
- A few years.
- …a few years.
We were the, uh… maybe the first family
on our block to have a television set,
and, uh, I remember watching
the coronation of your grandmother.
You will, one day, be King of England.
Do you think about that at all?
Um, it's not something
I wake up in the morning and think about
because, to me,
being authentic and being myself,
and being genuine, is what drives me.
And then you can attach whatever labels
and, kind of, roles
that come on top of that.
But if I'm not true to myself, and I'm not
true to what I stand for and believe in,
then, kind of, it doesn't really matter
who you are. It gets lost.
I take my roles and my responsibilities
seriously, but it's important,
like I said to you earlier,
you don't feel they own you.
You have to own them.
Would you have the same feeling
about your son
- becoming King as well?
- Yeah.
It's an interesting question
and it's a big question, that one.
Because there's 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,
and a world and a job that actually does
impact people's lives for the better.
Um, that is caveated with,
I hope we don't go back
to some of the practises in the past,
that, you know,
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.
It sounds like the monarchy will be
shifting in a slightly
different direction.
I think it's safe to say
that change is on my agenda.
Change for good.
And I embrace that
and I enjoy that change. I don't fear it.
That's the bit that excites me, is the
idea of being able to bring some change.
Not overly radical change,
but changes that I think need to happen.
[Levy] In my experience,
perspective in life
often comes from adversity.
You've heard the expression,
"If you don't have your health,
what have you got?"
At the end of it all, I mean, it's health
that is the most important thing.
People don't think about that,
especially younger people,
- the idea of health, you know?
- Yeah.
When you're a certain age,
right, nothing can happen.
And when it does, it puts a whole new
perspective on things, doesn't it?
Definitely. And I was
probably guilty of that as well.
We've… We've been very lucky.
We hadn't had many illnesses
in the family for a very long time.
Uh, my grandparents lived
until they were in the high 90s.
- So…
- Yeah.
Um, they were…
they were the vision of fitness,
and stoicism and resilience, if you like.
Um, so, we've been very lucky as a family.
But I think, yeah, I think,
when you suddenly realise that
the, uh, the rug if you were,
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. Um, 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…
[clears throat] …then, um, yeah,
then it takes you into some pretty,
you know, not… not great places.
Yeah.
Are you optimistic?
I am optimistic. [clears throat]
I'm generally a very optimistic person,
especially when I'm with
someone like you, Eugene.
- [chuckles]
- Um…
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.
I'm… 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.
Well, I'm hoping every other prince
I run into is as nice…
[chuckles]
…open, and human as you.
There's a prince everywhere now.
Very common.
- [laughs]
- [laughs] You'll find quite a few.
It's been really nice chatting with you,
Eugene, and showing you around Windsor.
- It's been really fun.
- It has. Thank you.
You know what really struck me today?
We're all sweating the same stuff.
Work, health, family.
And that's true, even for a future king.
But before I leave a world of
Windsor walks and pubs with princes,
there's one final place I want to visit.
St George's Chapel is
the final resting place
of William's grandparents,
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.
I'll never forget that heartbreaking image
of the late queen
at her husband's funeral.
Now here I am, sitting in the same pews
after the most extraordinary day.
I was so impressed
with the Prince of Wales.
It was a charming few hours
that we had together.
I don't know what I expected,
you know, from… from a royal.
The monarchy has always been
so very formal,
but with William, um,
you… you didn't get that at all.
He's a dad who goes to work
and then comes home
and, you know, has dinner with his kids.
There's a normalcy to it
that just, uh, surprised me.
It took me aback, actually, a little bit.
He was so down to earth.
Very funny, very bright.
Got to be honest, he was fun to hang with.
I kinda hope when William becomes king,
I'll still be around to tell my grandson,
"You see that guy wearing the crown?
I had a pint with him once."
And, hey, as bucket lists go…
…this is gonna be pretty hard to top.
Hard, borderline impossible,
but we'll give it a go.
- [alarm blares]
- Next on my bucket list…
Break down the K-wave for me.
- Korea!
- Oh, yeah!
- [laughing]
- [cheering]
I found my lost brother!
[doctor] This device
will rejuvenate your skin.
I look 35.
Oh, man.
[chuckles]
[singing, indistinct]
And we'll be right back.