Dreaming of Africa is one way that Prince William escapes from the stresses he faces as the future king of Britain.
"I regularly daydream," The Duke of Cambridge reveals in the documentary "Prince William's Passion: New Hope, New Father."
"Africa is definitely one
of the places I go to ... I have hundreds of animals on my iPhone. So
if I am ever having quite a stressful day ... you can put a buffalo on
in the background or a cricket," he says.
This may sound like a
small, even trivial, detail but it's a thought that may one day help
define the British monarchy. "It takes you back instantly to the
(African) bush. And it does completely settle me down."
Prince William will one
day be king, and he's acutely aware of the responsibility that comes
with that; it weighs heavily on his thoughts. And even before he takes
on that mantle, he's grappling with the often unwelcome attentions of
the world media.
It's definitely a plan of mine to go back to Africa. I will always have Africa as a special place that I love to go back to.
Prince William
Prince William
Everything he does, or is
rumored to do, makes a headline, somewhere. His fame has only been
compounded by his choice of wife and the birth of his heir, Prince
George.
There's no suggestion
that Prince William would ever drop out of public life, but he does
crave normality. He needs a dose of it every now and then to cope with
the maelstrom that surrounds him. The prince gets some of that normality
from his role in the military where he's treated as "one of the guys,"
but he also gets it from Africa.
For William, Africa
provides an escape that helps with his royal work back home: "Its
escaping to a kind of different world where I am just who I normally am
anyway, and I can let that side, that sort of slightly immature, silly
person come out a bit more than I normally do."
He enjoys the lack of
airs and graces: "There's not sycophants or anything like that. You're
very much treated as one of the team, and if you're not pulling your
weight, you're told to man-up and get on with it."
Prince William told me
Africa first got under his skin during a trip to Kenya when he was 17.
He saw an elephant that had been darted: "It just blew my mind really.
It was being that close to something so huge, something so majestic and
part of nature's great wonders, and again its vulnerability, it was
lying in the middle of the road just breathing away with its ears
flapped over its eyes to shut it from the sun."
That experience, he
says, made him realize how powerful we are as humans, and ever since
he's wanted to do what he can to protect Africa and its wildlife. This
drive has culminated in his support for the Tusk Conservation Awards which were set up to recognize outstanding achievement in conservation on the continent.
Soon after his first
visit to Africa, William heard about Tusk and became its patron in 2005.
He supports the charity by visiting its conservation projects in Africa
and by attending fundraising events on their behalf. The charity was
one of the first patronages he took on.
If you're in any doubt
about his connection to the cause, watch as he comes close to tears
talking about Edwin Kinyanjui, who risks his life every day in the fight
against elephant poachers.
You're very much treated as one of the team, and if you're not pulling your weight, you're told to man-up and get on with it.
Prince William
Prince William
Fatherhood has
strengthened William's resolve: "Suddenly you start thinking of like,
wow, there is stuff you want to safeguard for the future. I've always
believed it, but to actually really feel it as well, it's coming through
powerfully now as well."
For William, Africa is a
very emotional place. He told me he likes to watch the sun set with a
rum, reminiscing. His mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, is never far
from his thoughts.
"What I am doing in
Africa is probably not as obviously, visually if you like, related to
what she did. But helping communities, and helping Africans, as she has
done, and did with communities over in the UK, and around the world ...
it's about helping the needy and the vulnerable."
His personal connection
with Africa was sealed when he got engaged to Kate Middleton in Kenya in
2010. He told me it felt appropriate: "I didn't really plan it that far
in advance, like I just knew I wanted it to feel comfortable where I
did it and I wanted it to mean something, other than just the act of
getting engaged."
William says it just
happened on that particular holiday: "She understands what it means to
me being in Africa, and my love of conservation."
The prince is already
planning his next trip, once things settle down at home: "I think as
soon as George grows up a little bit more. I will be hung if I go now
... It's definitely a plan of mine to go back to Africa. I will always
have Africa as a special place that I love to go back to."
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