Her use of the “lower R in royal” gives an insight into Prince William’s view of his role in public life.

The pomp and ceremony of the royal family doesn’t always sit well with Prince William, nor does some of the leadership he sees globally.

“It’s very much about philanthropy, collaboration, coming together and helping people. I’m also going to bring empathy to it because I really care about what I do. It helps impact people’s lives. And I think we can do that with a little more empathetic leadership around the world.”

I spent last week with Prince William on his visit to South Africa.

This year was his longest stretch with the media, and he was perhaps more outspoken than most of us expected.

He was quite relaxed and spoke freely about his family and his role as Prince of Wales both on and off the record.

The conversation was generally cheerful; how he settled into his wardrobe of sustainable clothes, the dangers of growing a beard when your daughter doesn’t like it, and the ‘dad’ bracelet he made for his kids when he took them to see Taylor. Fast.

However, the impact of last year was also evident.

Seeing and talking to Prince William up close makes it clear how much of an impact both his wife and his father’s cancer treatment has had.

In his own words, it was “the hardest year of my life.”

Add to this the burden of being a senior Royal and a future King hanging heavily on Prince William.

The formalities of the job and the need to live part of your life in the public eye were sometimes not well received.