Prince opens up to Eugene Levy at Windsor for Apple TV, reflecting on loss and change
Prince William has said he still misses Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, reflecting on the late monarch’s enduring presence at Windsor and the upheaval since their deaths. In a candid exchange with actor Eugene Levy for his Apple TV series The Reluctant Traveller, the Prince of Wales acknowledged there has been “quite a lot of change” in his life over the past three years.
Seated with Levy in the King’s Drawing Room inside Windsor Castle — a space that looks towards West London and Eton College, where he spent his school years — William answered simply when asked if he missed his grandmother: “I do actually, yeah, I do miss my grandmother, and my grandfather.”
For William, Windsor is inseparable from the late Queen. “You think about them not being here anymore and particularly being in Windsor, for me Windsor is her,” he explained. He added that Queen Elizabeth “loved it here; she spent most of her time here,” and spoke warmly of the surrounding estate where she kept and rode her horses.
Mindful of her standards, William said he wanted to show Levy the Castle in a way she would have approved of: “Showing you around today is very much a case of trying to make sure I’m doing it in the way she’d want you to see it.” The tour began with a touch of informality: Levy discovered only at the last moment — via a hand-delivered note at The Goring Hotel — that his guide would be the prince himself, who then arrived in the quadrangle on a scooter. “We provide this service for everyone; we do personalised tours everywhere!” William joked as he led the way.
Levy’s curiosity about the Royal Family stems partly from his Canadian upbringing in a Commonwealth realm, where Queen Elizabeth — and now King Charles — serves as head of state. The Apple TV series sends the Schitt’s Creek and American Pie star around the world to tick off bucket-list experiences, and a day at Windsor Castle with the heir to the throne proved a surprise addition.
The conversation ranged from place and memory to the pressures of the present. In previously trailed clips from the show, William describes 2024 as “the hardest year that I’ve ever had,” a line he shares with Levy over a pint in a nearby pub. While he didn’t elaborate in the excerpt, the remark underscores the “quite a lot of change” he referenced when speaking about his grandparents’ absence and the evolving demands of royal life.
A palace source characterises the programme as “a window into the Prince and his life in Windsor,” noting that William also talks about “fun, family and future.” The suggestion is that viewers may glean hints about what could shape the reign of a future King William V, even as the series remains focused on travel and personal reflections rather than constitutional detail.
Throughout, the late Queen’s tastes and routines thread through William’s recollections: her love of the estate, the horses, and the quiet routines of a place she made her base in later years. By locating his memories in the rooms and views she knew so well, the prince anchors his grief in the geography of Windsor — a castle that, for him, is still her domain.
The resulting portrait is intimate but measured: a grandson who misses his grandmother; a son and heir who recognises how much has shifted; and a host keen to honour a legacy as he shows a guest around the castle that continues to define it.