Prince William biography
Prince William of Wales (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982) is the elder son of Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales, and is also the elder brother of Prince Harry. He is second in the Line of succession to the British Throne to the British monarchy and those of each of the other Commonwealth realms. As the son of the Prince of Wales and the grandson of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Prince William is a member of the British Royal Family. He was the first prince to be born into the immediate royal family since the birth of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex in 1964.
The prince served as a Lieutenant in the Blues and Royals regiment of the British Army's Household Cavalry in 2007, together with his younger brother, Prince Henry of Wales. Within his regiment, he was known as Cornet William Wales. In April 2008 William earned his Aircrew brevet by completing pilot training at RAF College Cranwell. His rank was Flying Officer but he was given the callsign "Billy the Fish" by his fellow pilots, a pun on his title William of Wales which also uses a part of his father's title for his surname.
In September 2008, the prince announced he is to train to be a full-time pilot with the Royal Air Force's Search and Rescue Force (SARF).
Early life
Childhood
Prince William was born on 21 June 1982 (21:03) at St Mary's Hospital, London in Paddington, West London, England. His father is Charles, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. His mother was Diana, Princess of Wales (née Diana Spencer family), youngest daughter of John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer and Frances Shand Kydd. As a male-line grandchild of the British monarch and son of the Prince of Wales, he is styled "His Royal Highness Prince William of Wales". As a child, he was affectionately called Wombat or Wills by his parents .
He was baptised by the then-Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Robert Runcie, on 4 August 1982, on the 82nd birthday of his paternal great grandmother Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. The baptism took place in the Music Room at Buckingham Palace. His godparents are: former King Constantine II of Greece, Sir Laurens van der Post, Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy, the Natalia Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster, Norton Knatchbull, 8th Baron Brabourne and Susan Hussey, Baroness Hussey of North Bradley.
Through his maternal grandfather, Prince William is a descendant of both King Charles II of England and Scotland and King James II of England and James VII of Scotland. William, should he become King, will be the first monarch since Anne of Great Britain to be descended from King Charles I of England and Scotland.
He has a younger brother, Prince Henry of Wales, born 15 September 1984.
On 1 March 1991 (Saint David's Day), Prince William made his first official public appearance during a visit to Cardiff, the capital of Wales. After arriving by plane, the eight-year-old prince was taken by his parents to Llandaff Cathedral. After a tour of the cathedral, he signed its visitors' book, demonstrating that he was left-handed. Photographs of the Prince taken during his visit are on permanent display at the cathedral. On his departure, numerous school children and local residents from the surrounding area presented gifts to him, which he received with a smile and the whispered words "thank you".
On 3 June 1991, Prince William was admitted to the Royal Berkshire Hospital after being hit on the side of the forehead by another pupil wielding a golf club. The Prince did not lose consciousness, but suffered a depressed fracture of the skull and was operated on at the Great Ormond Street Hospital. A slight scar is still visible today.
Death of Diana, Princess of Wales
In 1997 William's mother, Diana, Princess of Wales died as a result of injuries received Death of Diana, Princess of Wales in Paris. Prince William and his brother were staying with the Queen and their father at Balmoral Castle at the time. Their father, Charles, waited until the early morning to tell them the news.
At his mother's funeral, Prince William accompanied his father, brother, his paternal grandfather Prince Philip and his maternal uncle Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer in walking behind the funeral cortège from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey. Both William and Harry attended their Frances Shand Kydd private funeral in Scotland.
Education
Prince William attended Independent school (UK) in southern England. In his early years he was a pupil at Mrs Jane Mynors' nursery school and the pre-preparatory Wetherby School, both in West London. He attended Ludgrove School in Berkshire, a Preparatory school (UK). After passing an entrance exam, he went on to Eton College in Berkshire. Whilst there, he studied geography, biology, maths and history of art at Advanced Level (UK). He was a keen football player and captained his house team.
Like a growing number of British teenagers, Prince William chose to take a gap year after finishing Eton College. He took part in a British Army training exercise in Belize. He spent the final stage of his gap year in southern Chile in a small town called Tortel. There, he was a guest rap DJ for the small radio station, which he took much delight in doing. He became a volunteer with Raleigh International. Pictures of the prince cleaning a toilet were broadcast around the world.
After his gap year, Prince William attended the University of St Andrews in Fife, Scotland from 2001, graduating in 2005. He embarked on a degree course in History of art, but later changed his main subject to Geography. William earned a Master of Arts (Scotland) with British undergraduate degree classification in Geography, the highest academic achievement of any heir to the British and other Commonwealth Realm thrones. At St Andrews, the Prince used the name William Wales.
In January 2006, Prince William began his cadet course at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst to train as an Army Officer, joining his brother who had been there since May 2005.
Royal duties and career
Military career
On 15 December 2006, Prince William graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS). The Graduation United Kingdom parade was attended by the Queen and the Prince of Wales, along with other members of the Royal Family and Kate Middleton, Prince William's girlfriend. Prince William officially received his commission as a Lieutenant at midnight on 15/16 December 2006. As a graduate, he was commissioned as a Lieutenant rather than as a Second Lieutenant. Following the announcement in September, Prince William followed his younger brother into the The Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons) as a troop commander. Prince William has spent four months at Bovington Camp in Dorset, training to become a troop commander in an armoured reconnaissance unit.
Prince William and Prince Harry have both indicated that they would be prepared to undertake active service. Given his position in the succession and the reluctance of previous British governments to allow the heir to the throne to be put into dangerous situations, it remains to be seen if this wish will be fully realised. However, Major General United Kingdom Sebastian Roberts, general officer commanding the Household Division, indicated it was possible that the prince could be deployed to a conflict zone. However, Prince Harry's May 2007 deployment was cancelled because of "specific threats".
In January 2008, Prince William was commissioned as a Sub-Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and a Flying Officer in the Royal Air Force (both equivalent to the rank of Lieutenant in the Army). He then began an attachment with the Royal Air Force, undergoing an intensive four-month flying course. At the end of the course, on 11 April 2008 Prince William was presented with his Pilot wings by his father, Charles, Prince of Wales accompanied by Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. The Prince of Wales graduated in the 1970s after receiving his wings after training at the same RAF College straight after University just like his son. William's official guest was his long-time girlfriend, Kate Middleton.
During this secondment, it was later revealed that the prince helped to man a C-17 Globemaster III to Afghanistan. It was during the same mission in which he assisted in repatriating the body of Trooper Robert Pearson.
Following his attachment with the RAF, the Prince moved to train with the Royal Navy for two months from 2 June to 1 August 2008. During that time he spent three weeks at the Britannia Royal Naval College, spent time with units of the surface fleet, submarine service, Fleet Air Arm and Royal Marines, before deploying for
a further five weeks on HMS Iron Duke (F234) in the Caribbean.
During the first weeks of his service within the RN, he took part in a secret underwater mission.
According to several news reports, while Lt. Wales was serving on the HMS Iron Duke he helped to identify and capture a small vessel after he "spotted the vessel and became suspicious of a small boat being so far from land". The speedboat was transporting 900kg of cocaine, with a street value estimated at £40 million. Later the same month, the Prince participated in another raid, though no drugs were seized.
He is slated to take on another secondment during the autumn of 2008. The secondment includes working at the MOD as well as non-operational flying with the Army Air Corps.
Prince William initially joined the army on a short-service commission lasting three years. Because of his future role, it would be difficult for him to have a career in the armed forces, unlike his brother who has made it clear he sees his service in the army as a long term career commitment. However, in September 2008, it was announced that Prince William would be extending his period in the armed forces by transferring from the army to the RAF to train as a full-time search and rescue helicopter pilot. This will see him undergo a much more extensive training programme than his initial secondment in the RAF, starting in January 2009. Once his training is completed in 2010, it is expected his tour would last 30 to 36 months.
Royal duties
At the age of 21, as second in line to the throne, he became eligible to become a Counsellor of State, and first served in that capacity when the Queen was abroad on a state visit to Nigeria in 2003.
In July 2005, William carried out his first official engagements representing Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, as Monarchy in New Zealand, at World War II commemorations in New Zealand. In the autumn of 2005, the prince took two work placements. He initially worked in land management at Chatsworth House, a Peak District estate of the Peregrine Cavendish, 12th Duke of Devonshire. William's second work placement was with the HSBC in London.
William's first patronage is with the UK charity Centrepoint (charity), which works with Homelessness young people. During his mother's patronage to the charity, William would occasionally accompany her on visits. William is also patron of the Tusk Trust, an African conservation charity based in the UK.
The prince has been the president of England's The Football Association since May 2006. In August 2006 it was announced that he would become Vice Royal Patron of the Welsh Rugby Union from February 2007, supporting his grandmother the Queen, who is Patron of the WRU. In 2007 the WRU's decision to name a new cup for test matches between Wales and South Africa national rugby union team the Prince William Cup caused controversy, with many believing it would be more fitting to name the cup after Ray Gravell, with thousands signing on-line petitions.
In a biography on Princess Diana by Tina Brown published in 2007, it was reported that Prince William had expressed a desire to become the Governor General of Australia. That such a desire should ever be fulfilled is doubtful, according to John Howard the then Prime Minister of Australia, who said "We have for a long time embraced the idea that the person who occupies that post should be in every way an Australian citizen".
In July 2007, Prince William represented the Royal Family when he opened the 21st World Scout Jamboree celebrating the centennial of the founding of the Scout Movement.
Personal life
William's private life has been the subject of much discussion in the international news media, especially surrounding Kate Middleton.
Kate Middleton
In late 2005 the media concentrated on his long-term relationship with girlfriend Kate Middleton, formerly one of his university flatmates, whom he began dating late in 2003. There was no statement from the Queen or the Prince of Wales regarding their views of the relationship or a possible marriage.
Kate Middleton attended Prince William's passing out parade at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst on 15 December 2006. This was the first high-profile event Middleton attended as Prince William's guest. She was accompanied by her parents and the prince's private secretary Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton.
On 14 April 2007 a
The Sun (newspaper) newspaper report suggested that Prince William and Kate Middleton had split up. Other media outlets such as the BBC confirmed the story as the day progressed. The couple decided to break up during a holiday in the Swiss resort of Zermatt.
A report in the
Daily Mail blamed a desire by royal courtiers not to "hurry along" a marriage announcement, and William's desire to enjoy his bachelor status within his Army career. The Mail also suggested that William's friend Guy Pelly encouraged the Prince to take a "careless approach" to relationships. The same article suggested that Middleton had "expected too much" in wanting William to demonstrate his commitment to her.
In June 2007, the couple attended a party at Lulworth army barracks together. At the time Middleton and William insisted they were "just good friends" following reports of a reconciliation. In July 2007 Middleton accepted an invitation from William to attend the Concert for Diana, held at London's Wembley Stadium, but they sat three rows apart. In August 2007 after the couple spent a week-long holiday together on the isolated island of Des Roches in the Seychelles Islands, the
BBC and the
Daily Mail, among other news sources, stated that Prince William and Middleton were reconciled and had resumed their relationship. In October 2007, Middleton flew to Scotland with William and they joined his father Prince Charles for a shooting party on the Balmoral Estate. On 16 June 2008, Middleton attended the event of William's investiture into the Most Noble Order of the Garter along with the Royal Family.
Titles, styles, honours and arms
Titles and styles
- 21 June 1982 — :
His Royal Highness Prince William of Wales
Surname
By Order-in-Council in 1960, the non-titled descendants of Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh were given the surname Mountbatten-Windsor, combining the dynasty name of Elizabeth and the assumed surname of Philip. However, although titled, the Queen's children have all decided to use the surname also in honour of their father. For their banns of marriage for their first marriages, both William's aunt, Anne, Princess Royal and his own father, Charles, Prince of Wales, used
Mountbatten-Windsor rather than
Windsor.
Mountbatten-Windsor is now treated as being the surname of all descendants of the Queen and the Duke except those, like the children of the Princess Royal, who have a new paternal surname (in that case, "Phillips").
As with Royal Family tradition, Prince William used "Wales" as a last name during his years of education, as has Prince Harry. William's York cousins in turn use "York" (other Royal Families also use their parents' title as their own working surname). Past precedent, however, is that such title-surnames are dropped from usage in adulthood, with either title alone or name and Mountbatten-Windsor being used on legal documents and banns of marriage.
Future
Should his father succeed to the throne, William will automatically and immediately obtain the titles of Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay and it is expected that he will be invested as Prince of Wales, although this is not automatic. Should his father death the Queen, leaving William as first-in-line to the throne, she may choose to create him Prince of Wales.
Regnal
As the eldest son of the current Prince of Wales, William may ascend to the respective thrones of the United Kingdom and the other 15 Commonwealth realms. If William decides to use his first name as his regnal name, he would be known as William V. He can of course, as monarch, choose any regnal name.
Honours
On 22 April 2008 it was announced that the Queen was pleased to appoint Prince William as a Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter. He became the 1,000th member on the Order's Register. On 16 June 2008 he was officially appointed by the Queen at a service at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.
The last time a sovereign granted the Order of the Garter to a grandchild was in 1894, when Victoria of the United Kingdom installed her grandson Alfred, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Before him in 1884,
Prince George of Wales (later George V of the United Kingdom) was granted with the Order too.
- KG: Order of the Garter,
22 April 2008- Image:Queen_Elizabeth_II_Golden_Jubilee_Medal_ribbon.jpg Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal,
2002Military
- Cornet (military rank) (Second Lieutenant), The Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons), 16 December 2006 (with seniority 13 June 2003)
- Lieutenant, The Blues and Royals, 16 December 2006 (with seniority 13 June 2005)
- Sub-Lieutenant, Royal Navy, 1 January 2008
Honorary military appointments
- Commodore-in-Chief, HMNB Clyde, 8 August 2006
- Commodore-in-Chief, Royal Navy Submarine Service, 8 August 2006
Arms
On his 18th birthday, Prince William was granted his own personalised coat of arms. His arms are those of the Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom with a label (heraldry) for difference:
The
Escallop Gules is in reference to his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, as the escallop appears in the Earl Spencer coat of arms. As the eldest son of the eldest son of the sovereign, his arms are distinguished by a label of three points unlike the arms of other grandchildren of the sovereign, which are distinguished by a label of five points.
Ancestry
Genealogists' results of his well-researched ancestry are presented at many websites and the first four generations are given below. For further ancestry, see .
Through his maternal grandfather, Prince William is descended from King Charles II of England and King James II of England of England and Scotland. William, should he become King, will be the first monarch since Anne of Great Britain to be descended from Charles I of England and Scotland. Prince William is of remote Armenian people, Irish people, Scotland, American, and English descent from his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.
Patrilineal descent
William's patriline is the line from which he is descended father to son. Patrilineal descent is the principle behind membership in most royal houses, and can be traced back through the generations - which means that William is Agnatic seniority a member of the Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg line of the House of Oldenburg.
House of Oldenburg
Egilmar I of Lerigau, dates unknown
Egilmar II of Lerigau, d. 1142
Christian I of Oldenburg, d. 1167
Moritz of Oldenburg, d. 1209
Christian II of Oldenburg, d. 1233
John I, Count of Oldenburg, d. 1275
Christian III, Count of Oldenburg, d. 1285
John II, Count of Oldenburg, d. 1314
Conrad I, Count of Oldenburg, 1300 - 1347
Christian V, Count of Oldenburg, 1340 - 1423
Dietrich, Count of Oldenburg, 1398 - 1440
Christian I of Denmark, 1426 - 1481
Frederick I of Denmark, 1471 - 1533
Christian III of Denmark, 1503 - 1559
John II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg, 1545 - 1622
Alexander, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg, 1573 - 1627
August Philipp, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck, 1612 - 1675
Frederick Louis, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck, 1653 - 1728
Peter August, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck, 1696 - 1775
Karl Anton August, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck, 1727 - 1759
Friedrich Karl Ludwig, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck, 1757 - 1816
Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, 1785 - 1831
Christian IX of Denmark, 1818 - 1906
George I of Greece, 1845 - 1913
Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, 1882 - 1944
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, 1921 -
Charles, Prince of Wales, 1948 -
Prince William of Wales, 1982 -