Prince William Very Cool and Normal According to Eugene Levy

Apple TV+ is not generally thought of as the people’s princess of streaming television. (That’s obviously Peacock.) Just in case there was ever any doubt, though, the new season of The Reluctant Traveler With Eugene Levy doubles down on the Apple TV+ identity as a destination for comfortable institutionalism with an entire episode devoted to an interview with Prince William. A producer hands Levy an envelope with an invitation handwritten by William, and Levy is apparently completely surprised that this was in fact the entire conceit of the episode. Somehow, he still arrives for the conversation the next day with a laundry list of reassuring questions designed to put William’s totally normal dorky dad-guy mode on full display.

Sure, maybe this wasn’t a carefully orchestrated public relations salvo with the single-minded aim of conveying that William is a human being who is ready to gently transition the monarchy into a new era of modernity without doing anything to insult traditionalists! But if that were the goal, would any of this interview need to change? Let’s consider.

William looks unimaginably awkward, claims he’s late because his scooter got “a puncture,” and then hops off and informs Levy, “I was a big fan of all your earlier films, Eugene. The American Pies.” Levy finds this flattering and has no follow-up questions about humor, sexual sensibility, or the difference between American and British pies. He is very into the practicality of the scooter, though.

“A prince on a scooter! He’s certainly not afraid to … roll … with the times.”
“Everyone’s childhood home has a story to tell, but this one more than most.”
“As a dad myself, I can relate to the feeling of just trying to do right by your kids.”

Do not ask him anything about dates. Do not ask him anything about Henry VIII. You can ask him to repeat an apparently famous line overheard during a public tour of Windsor Castle, when a tourist mentioned it was such a shame the castle had to be built so close to Heathrow Airport. “I know my history’s bad, but that’s another level,” William says. Levy laughs in disbelief.

“Do you miss your grandmother?” Levy asks William. Yes he does. They had a very warm relationship. She wore scarves instead of helmets when riding horses. (“That’s an image we were all very familiar with,” Levy says.) She was deeply distraught when Windsor Castle burned in 1992. It was acceptable and fun to make her laugh, but only under certain circumstances and about particular subjects that William declines to specify. “My grandfather was very amusing. Sometimes not deliberately. Sometimes by accident,” William says. “Happy times.” Levy’s voice-over jumps in: “As a grandfather, it’s the laughs I want my grandchildren to remember me by.”

Did Queen Elizabeth do a lot of riding? She posed for many oil paintings, right? Did she like posing for oil paintings? Did William come to Windsor Castle often? Is William a football fan? Does William ever get overwhelmed by the sheer history of the place? (No, actually!)

All of it — again, apparently done with no warning or prep time for Levy — comes off with bizarre credulity. It’s not the performative friendliness of when celebrities interview other celebrities, and it’s not the adversarial feeling of an interview with a professional journalist either. It’s like two guys who’ve been thrust together by their wives and promised that they have soo much in common, you’ll really like each other. Just ask him about family! You both like family, right?

“I think if you’re too intrinsically attached to the history, you can’t possibly have any flexibility,” William tells Levy. “I think it’s very important that tradition stays. I think tradition is a huge part of all of this. But there’s also points where you look at tradition and say, is that still fit for purpose today?”

William says that although history does not overwhelm him, sometimes “things to do with family” can be overwhelming because it is “more personal, more about feeling, more about … upsetting the rhythm, if you like.” Levy nods and the voice-over chimes in: “I wasn’t expecting to chat to William like any other guy, but what I’m realizing is that despite all the grandeur, this castle’s actually a home.” Oh, okay! Moving on! No further questions.

Orla innocent.

At a casual pub in Windsor, Levy orders a Guinness and drinks none of it, while William orders a sweet cider and drinks one quarter of it. Levy gets into questions about everyone’s health over the last year. “2024 was the hardest year I’ve ever had,” William tells him. Everything now is “progressing in the right way,” and Catherine is in remission, but it’s been difficult to protect his family amid media scrutiny. “If you’re not careful you can intrude so much into someone’s life that you can unpick everything,” William says, “and growing up I saw that with my parents.”

Levy’s ostensibly there because exploring royal life was on his bucket list. William’s allegedly there because he is being a good host and giving Levy a personal tour. At no point does this ever resemble the fun reality travel show it’s meant to be. William moves through several highly sanitized attempts at vulnerable transparency without ever saying much, and although he’s pretty good at pretending, it’s never not odd that he’s just hanging out and telling Eugene Levy about his wife’s experience with cancer.

Levy, for his part, does seem honestly fascinated and a little cowed by spending time with William, but that humility feels just as weird. This is Levy’s third season hosting a travel show. He’s been on a huge sitcom; he’s been in film and TV forever (remember, the American Pies!); he hosted the Emmys and SNL. No, he’s not royalty, but presumably he has seen an electric scooter before? He’s just so wowed by the experience, and his awe is so unearned. Obviously William is not here doing you a personal favor! This is elaborate, calculated image rehabilitation! Oddly, the end result is that Levy comes off as even more distant and inscrutable than William. William at least seems to be in on the game they’re playing.

“The monarchy has always been so formal, but with William, you didn’t get that at all,” Levy concludes at the end. “There’s a normalcy to it that surprised me, took me aback!” He says this while sitting in St George’s Chapel, in the same pew where Queen Elizabeth was photographed mourning after her husband’s funeral. “Gotta be honest: He was fun to hang with,” Levy says, at the end. Maybe you had to be there.