Royal Wedding 2011: Ben Fogle reveals a side of Prince William the public never see
So much so that he and his wife Marina have been invited by the royal couple to celebrate their wedding. In fact, theyll be among the privileged group of 300 close friends wholl stay through until the end of the evening party at Buckingham Palace.
Needless to say, Ben, 37, who now works as a TV presenter/broadcaster, is rather chuffed, although it is giving him a bit of a problem. The whole William thing is a slightly awkward one, he says, looking, well, slightly awkward as he turns off his mobile.
Ive not been invited as a presenter but as a friend. It makes the day slightly awkward because Ive got two hats.
In with the Windsors: TV star Ben Fogle, is good friends with Prince William so much so that he and his wife Marina have been invited to the Royal WeddingActually, Ben isnt wearing any hat, so has his full head of blondish hair on display. Other than that, hes the spitting image of that-bloke-whos-about-to-walk-up-theaisle. Indeed, Prince William has, on occasion, passed himself off as Ben.
No, by two hats Ben means the top hat hell wear on Friday and his NBC correspondents hat. He negotiated a two-year deal with the American TV network including commentary on the Royal Wedding before he knew he was on The Guest List.
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The refreshingly candid programme, Prince Williams Africa, revealed William to be a grounded, easy-going young man with a passion for Africa and a determination to carry out his royal duties in his own style, because, as he himself put it, many of the things the palace officials come up with are very old-fashioned and dont work nowadays or are just wrong.The documentary also revealed for the first time Bens friendship with William. I met him many years ago, says Ben. I feel very comfortable around him. There are many things we have in common.
Tough call: Ben is unsure what he'll wear on Friday - his top hat or his NBC correspondent's hat He spent time with Raleigh International [the youth and sustainable development charity] in Chile; I spent time with Raleigh International in Belize. He loves the countryside. He loves Africa. Kate does too. For their wedding present I suspect well get them something significant from Africa, something thats meaningful for both of them.
Over the years Ive seen a very different side to him to the one we read about in the papers. Were all starting to see a lot more of it now that open, calm, chatty, comfortable, humorous side. I wanted to
let other people see that. Doing it through Tusk in Africa seemed to be a brilliant way. Africa is a really important part of his life and I suspect it will become an even bigger, more important part as the years go on.
Indeed, William told Ben on safari in Botswana, where the documentary was filmed, that Africa was his second home it was also where William proposed to Kate, in Kenya, last October. The prince explained, Africas the perfect place to come. The locals havent a clue who I am, and I love that. The more grounded and the more normal you can be, t! he bette r.
Generally, I like to be away from the cameras. My mother instilled into Harry and me from a very early age that being grounded was very important, because you can get wrapped up in your own world. Ive tried to keep that going, and I know Harry has too. Were very laid-back anyway. We dont want to be mollycoddled. We dont want to be kept away from everything. We want to see the real stuff, we want to do the real stuff.
Ben says, I dont think he wants pomp and ceremony around him. He wants to be much more of a peoples person. Ive spent time with him and seen him interacting, and hes amazing. Hes such an honest young man. In Botswana we were all camping together in what the press had dubbed a luxury tented safari it was far from that; we were sleeping on the floor in very rudimentary tents. In the morning when we were heading off it was very cold, freezing, with a little fire there, and William was there offering cups of tea to anyone who was around the staff getting the cars ready, everyone.
Hes the same when you see him with the young kids from the homeless charity Centrepoint. Beforehand, they think hes going to be a bit stuck up, but afterwards its, Wow, hes so funny, so relaxed.
Thats one of the reasons people who know him want to give him privacy in a world where he has very little.
Ben got to know William through his wife Marina, who is due to give birth to their second child in a few weeks. Her sister, Olivia Hunt, briefly dated William at St Andrews University but the romance fizzled out when Kate came on the scene. The three of them have remained close friends, though, and have skied together in Klosters. Marinas family know William, says Ben.
Good company: Ben got to know William through his wife Marina (left), as her sister, Olivia Hunt (right), briefly dated William at St Andrews University Its how I got to know him and Ive seen how loyal everyone is aroun! d him. T hats what makes this Friday so awkward. When NBC approached me at the end of last year to do some work for them in the lead up to the wedding, it was before I knew I was invited.
Ben was in New York when the coveted wedding invitation arrived at his west London home. Marina and their son Ludo were staying with her parents because their home was being extended in preparation for the new baby.
The invitation went unnoticed for several days. We only picked it up a few days later, says Ben. I was really surprised and touched to be invited. I can remember watching the wedding of his parents when I was a child. William and Kates wedding will be such a historic occasion, and celebrated the world over. Marina and I both feel enormously privileged to be able to say we were there.
I just hope she doesnt go into labour early. That would make it even more memorable! Marinas having a final dress fitting on the morning of the wedding to allow for the growing bump.
It is, Ben says, a shared interest in charities that has strengthened his friendship with William. Following the Tusk documentary, Ben will be highlighting the work of the Royal National Lifeboat Institutions volunteers in the History channels Lifeboat Heroes. Its a charity the royal couple also hold dear in February they carried out their first official joint public engagement in Anglesey to launch the RNLI lifeboat Hereford Endeavour.
Im sure. Ben concedes his early life was marked by failure. The second of three children born to actress Julia Foster and broadcasting vet Bruce Fogle, he attended exc! lusive B ryanston School in Dorset, but made rather a hash of it. I could never cope under pressure, he says.
When I had to sit an exam I couldnt even remember my name. It was probably a part of growing up with two successful parents. My mother was a very big actress. She was trailed by paparazzi and always surrounded by glamorous people, like Michael Caine [with whom she starred in Alfie].
I remember being teased because my mother did some raunchy scenes. Shed also bring her roles home so if she was playing an Irish woman, shed start talking in an Irish accent and shed come to meet me at school in wigs and big glasses. Children can be mean to one another. I think that does stick. Over the years my confidence has grown, but it doesnt take much to knock it. I have a very thin skin.
Ben wanted to be a vet like his father, but didnt get the grades he needed. Instead, he applied to drama school, but was met with rejection. I was in a very dark place for a time. I was stuck at home and couldnt see a way out. I was working as an ice-cream scooper. After all the money spent on my education, that was the lofty heights of my achievement.
Success story: It was his partnership with Olympic rower James Cracknell (right) in various high-profile challenges that cemented Ben's career Ben began to travel, working in the ice-cream parlour to fund his trips. They were my escape, he says. Then he grabbed the chance to spend a year on a Scottish island for Castaway 2000. Ben soon built up a huge fan base, and BBC executives offered him various presenting jobs, including Countryfile. I owe everything to that experience, he says, but for years I tried to shake off that reality show tag. For years I was Castaway Ben. Now I like to think Im just me.
It was his partnership with Olympic rower James Cracknell in various high-profile challenges that cemented his career. They became close friends but! , says B en, Jamess brain injury from a recent cycling accident in America has altered that friendship. I havent seen him for months not for the want of trying. I text him and call him every day. Ive assumed it was part of the process of having a brain injury that you dont get back in touch. But thats hard for me because I still consider him a best friend. I think it took what happened for us to go our separate ways and break this adventuring partnership. Im a firm believer in life taking strange twists. Who would have believed NBC would sign me up for two years?
After chatting to this charming, compassionate man, I can see why they have. And why William and Kate value him as a friend. So, what about this awkward hat thing? Which one will he wear on Friday? He looks, well, awkward. I might do something for NBC in the evening. I might not. I havent decided yet. My guess is hell be wearing the top hat all day.
Lifeboat Heroes is on the History channel on Tuesday at 10pm
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