William opens up about ex flame and how it lead to a major change in his life

Prince William said a former connection in his life made him a conservationist.

Reflecting on the romance with his ex-girlfriend, Jecca Craig, during the festive edition of Apple's Time to Walk audio series, William revealed, "I had such an amazing experience, where I got to see [Ian] darting an elephant for research purposes, and I must have been 16, 17, something like that."

"Touching an elephant, seeing it lying there in front of you breathing very slowly, its enormous ribs going up and down, and picking the trunk up and listening to the breathing coming out of [it] in your ear - it's a really special, very privileged experience.

"And that, for any young guy, is like: 'Wow, this is cool'.

Ian was Jecca's father.

"Back then, conservation was very much a case of: put wildlife over here, put people over there. Don't let them meet.

"And Ian came along with a pretty radical idea, which was: 'You can't keep these two entities separate. They need to be together.' This is where I started to realise what the job is. A large part of it was community engagement, getting to meet people and understand their challenges."

According to the Daily Mail, the Prince fell for Craig on a return trip to the ranch during a year out after he graduated from Eton.

However, they broke up when he went to University, where he met Kate.