Prince William Shares He and Kate Middleton Talk to Prince George About the Holocaust: ‘He’s Starting to Understand Things’

In addition to delivering a speech to mark Holocaust Memorial Day that was heard globally, Prince William is having conversations about the atrocity closer to home, as well.

The Prince of Wales, 42, and Kate Middleton, 43, marked Holocaust Memorial Day in London on Jan. 27, their first joint appearance of 2025 and Kate’s first appearance since announcing on Jan. 14 that she was in remission from cancer.

Related: Kate Middleton Makes Last-Minute Appearance with Prince William at Poignant Event: 'It's Good to Be Able to Be Here'

During the emotional visit, William shared, per Hello!, that he and Kate have started having important conversations about the Holocaust with their eldest child Prince George, 11, who will one day be king. (His younger siblings are Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6.)

While speaking with Holocaust survivor Alfred Garwood — who survived Bergen-Belsen as a child — and genocide survivor Sabina Kadic-Mackenzie, William said, “George is getting to the age where he’s starting to understand things. So it’s getting interesting to talk to him about what happened.”

The Jan. 27 commemoration recognized the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp — the largest Nazi death camp — and Holocaust Memorial Day honors the lives of the 6 million Jewish people who were murdered during the Holocaust, the millions killed under Nazi persecution and during subsequent genocides.

During her visit with around 50 Holocaust survivors at the Guildhall on Monday, Kate had an emotional reunion with Yvonne Bernstein and Steven Frank, who the royal photographed in 2020 to mark the 75th anniversary of Auschwitz’s liberation.

Related: Kate Middleton Has Emotional Reunion with Holocaust Survivors She Previously Photographed at Memorial Event

The future queen and Bernstein sweetly hugged and held hands, with Princess Kate saying, “It was such a treat for me to come and see an old friend,” according to Hello!.

Prince William delivered remarks during the hour-long ceremony, saying, “I am honored to join you today to mark Holocaust Memorial Day and remember the millions murdered during the Holocaust and subsequent genocides.”

“We also remember those survivors who have lived with scars, both mental and physical,” he continued. “Their bravery in sharing with us the most harrowing moments of their lives are extremely powerful and ensure that we never forget. I assure them we never will.”

The Prince of Wales then read an excerpt from the book Holocaust Heroes, which told of how his great-grandmother, Princess Alice of Battenburg, protected a Jewish family from the Nazis in Athens, Greece. Princess Alice, the mother of William’s grandfather Prince Philip, was one of “those who risked their own lives to help and save others,” William said. “They risked death, torture and persecution to defy the aggressors.”

Reading from Holocaust Heroes (and per The Daily Express), William read, “Conditions were particularly severe in Athens and its port, Piraeus. Alice worked tirelessly for the Red Cross, helping to organize soup kitchens, opening shelters for orphaned children and setting up a nursing system for poor areas of the city. It was at this time that Princess Alice gave refuge to a Jewish widow, Rachel Cohen, and two of her five children to save them from deportation to the death camps."

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Elsewhere in the day, Prince William apologized that he couldn’t spend longer talking to everyone, saying, “There is a lot of history at this table,” per The Mirror. “We need to hear it all.”

In addition to William and Kate’s appearance in London, King Charles visited Poland for the 80th anniversary of the Auschwitz liberation — and, through his visit on Jan. 27, became the first British monarch to visit the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.

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