Britain’s Prince William has said that forbidding his 12-year-old son George from having a mobile phone has “become a little bit of a tense issue” as he spoke out about the challenges of modern parenting.

William spoke to broadcaster Luciano Huck in Brazil, where he travelled last week to host his Earthshot Prize in Rio de Janeiro.

In a video Huck shared to his 23 million Instagram followers on Monday (local time), the Prince of Wales spoke candidly about his and wife Kate’s decision not to let their children – George and his younger siblings Princess Charlotte or Prince Louis – have mobile phones yet.

“It’s really hard,” he told Huck.

“Our children don’t have phones. I think when George moves on to secondary school, then maybe he might have a phone that has no internet access.”

William flagged concerns about children potentially seeing too much inappropriate content online.

“It’s getting to the point where it’s becoming a little bit of a like tense issue. But I think he understands why, we communicate why we don’t think it’s right. And again, I think it’s the internet access I have a problem with,” he said.

He also revealed that he and the Princess of Wales share the school run and he attends sports days, matches and plays in the garden with his children as much as he can.

“I’m the taxi driver,” he said.

“Taxi driver, sports days, matches, playing in the garden, where I can. School run, most days. I mean, Catherine and I share it. She probably does the bulk of it.”

All three Wales children are at school together near their home in Windsor Great Park, west of London. George, who is second in line to the throne behind his father, will head to secondary school in mid-2026.

Huck asked the prince about the challenges of the past few years for his family, particularly after his father, the King, and his wife were both diagnosed with cancer.

“Every family has its own difficulties and its own challenges… Sometimes you feel you’re oversharing with the children. You probably shouldn’t, but most of the time, hiding stuff from them doesn’t work,” he said.

“It’s always a balancing act to me that every parent knows that it’s kind of: ‘How much do I say? What do I say? When do I say?’. And you know, there’s no manual for being a parent. You’ve just got to go with a bit of instinct.”

The Princess of Wales revealed in January that she was in remission from cancer.

The King’s treatment continues.

-with AAP