The holidays can be a difficult time for a lot of people, so in a special holiday Time to Walk episode, Prince William spoke about the importance of prioritizing your mental health. The Duke of Cambridge spoke on a special episode of Apple’s Time to Walk, which is available to Apple Fitness+ subscribers from today. (If you don't have an Apple Watch, here's how to pick the best Apple Watch for you).
The Prince takes listeners on a walk around his Sandringham estate, based in Norfolk in the United Kingdom. He stops at the Church where the Royal Family visit on Christmas Day, and told childhood stories about car rides with his mother, the late Princess Diana.
The Duke also shared an emotional moment with listeners, talking about his struggles with his mental health after attending an accident where a little boy had been hit by a car, during his time with the Air Ambulance.
“Mental health has been a taboo and a stigma for a long time all around the world, and it still is”, said the Prince, who was audibly moved when talking about the incident.
Prince William also recalled how it was his father, Prince Charles, who instilled in him a desire to get out of the house and go for a walk. “He used to try and force Harry and I out of the house to walk. We weren’t really having any of this but now, when you get older, you appreciate it a lot more.”
Taking to Instagram, the Duke wrote: “My whole family have a passion for walking – whether it’s my Grandmother still taking her corgis out at 95; my father embarking on lengthy rambles over the summer in Scotland; or my own children making their first appearance at our annual walk to church on Christmas morning at Sandringham.”
If you’re not an Apple Fitness+ subscriber, Apple is also giving people the chance to listen for free on Apple Music 1, the global radio station of Apple Music. Listeners can tune in at Monday, December 6 at 8 a.m. GMT in London and 8 a.m. PST in Los Angeles. Listeners in Australia can tune in on Tuesday, December 7 at 8 a.m. AEDT in Sydney.
The three songs Prince William chose on his Time to Walk episode
Want to walk, or workout, to Prince William’s playlist today? Here are the three songs the Duke chose:
Tina Turner’s ‘The Best’
The first of the three songs Prince William chose for his walk was Tina Turner’s iconic ‘The Best’, which the Duke said “brings back lots of memories” of his mom, Diana, Princess of Wales. William revealed how his mother would play “all sorts of songs” when driving back him and his brother, Prince Harry, back to school, to help ease “the anxiety” of going back to school. “One of the songs I massively remember and has stuck with me all this time, and I still quite enjoy secretly, is Tina Turner’s The Best, because sitting in the backseat, singing away, it felt like a real family moment.’ Prince William explains. ‘My mother, she’d be driving along, singing at the top of her voice. And we’d even get the policeman in the car, he’d be occasionally singing along, as well. And when I listen to it now, it takes me back to those car rides and brings back lots of memories of my mother.” The Duke and his brother unveiled a new memorial statue of their mother in Kensington Palace Gardens in London earlier this year, to commemorate the Princess on the 24th anniversary of her death.
Shakira's Waka Waka
As well as being the future King of England, the Duke of Cambridge is a father to three — Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. His second choice showed an insight into family life, and the early morning bickering as George and Charlotte disagree over the playlist before getting ready for school.
Their current favorite is Shakira’s ‘Waka Waka’ and this was the Duke’s second choice. “There’s a lot of hip movements going along” he laughed, and “a lot of dressing up”. “Charlotte, particularly, is running around the kitchen in her dresses and ballet stuff and everything. She goes completely crazy, with Louis following her around trying to do the same thing. It’s a really happy moment where the children just enjoy dancing, messing around and singing.”
AC/DC's Thunderstruck
The final song Prince William chose was his “tonic for a Monday morning”. A nod to the Duke’s personal music preferences, he urged listeners to try and resist nodding along to the “headbanging” music. Apt for the Monday morning recording, William said listening to the song “absolutely wakes you up. You feel like you can take on anything and anyone.”
Apple has confirmed it's making donations to three charities chosen by Prince William, which are doing important work around mental health: Crisis Text Line in the U.S., Shout 85258 in the U.K. and Lifeline in Australia.
