Prince William Biography
Born in St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, London, he is the elder son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana. His brother, third in line to the throne, is Prince Harry. He was christened by the Archbishop of Canterbury at Buckingham Palace.
William was the first royal prince to attend an ordinary primary school rather than being educated at home. He received his secondary education at Eton College, and is currently (2004) studying Geography at St. Andrews University in Scotland.
 |
As Prince William is in the
direct line of succession, he is
expected to ascend to the position
of King of the United Kingdom and
the other Commonwealth Realms
sometime in the future.
Birth and childhood
Prince William was born on June 21,
1982 at St Mary's Hospital in
Paddington, West London. His father
is Prince Charles, Prince of Wales,
the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II
and Prince Philip, Duke of
Edinburgh. His mother was Diana,
Princess of Wales, a daughter of the
8th Earl Spencer. He has a younger
brother, Prince Harry of Wales. As a
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 his
parents affectionately called him
Wombat. He is sometimes known as
Wills.
He was christened on his
great-grandmother's Queen Elizabeth,
The Queen Mother 82nd birthday on
August 4, 1982 in the Music Room at
Buckingham Palace by the Archbishop
of Canterbury, Dr. Robert Runcie.
His godparents were: King
Constantine of Greece, Sir Laurens
van der Post, Princess Alexandra,
the Duchess of Westminster, Lord
Romsey and Lady Susan Hussey.
Through his mother, Prince William
is descended from both the Duke of
Grafton and the Duke of Richmond,
two illegitimate sons of King
Charles II of England. Thus, upon
his expected ascension as King, he
will be the first British monarch
descended from Charles II, as well
as the first descended from Charles
I since the death of Queen Anne in
1714.
Death of Diana, Princess of Wales
On 31 August 1997 Prince William's
mother, Diana, Princess of Wales and
her companion, Dodi Al-Fayed, were
killed in a car accident in Paris,
France. Her death came days after
she spent a holiday in southern
France with both Prince William and
Prince Harry. Both princes were
staying with the Queen at Balmoral
Castle at the time. Their father,
Charles, woke them from their sleep
to tell them the news.
At Diana's funeral, Prince William
accompanied his father, brother, his
grandfather Prince Philip and his
uncle the 9th Earl Spencer to walk
behind Diana's funeral cortege from
Buckingham Palace to Westminster
Abbey. During his eulogy, the Earl
Spencer promised that the Spencer
family would take an active interest
in looking after Diana's children,
although William has seen little of
him since then or of Diana's mother
before her death.
Education
Prince William attended the Mrs Jane
Mynors' nursery school and the
pre-prep Wetherby School both in
West London. He later attended
Ludgrove School in Berkshire.
William was the first British prince
to attend a primary school. He later
attended the prestigious Eton
College in Eton, Berkshire. He
studied geography, biology and
history of art at A-level. The
prince is left handed.
Like many British teenagers, Prince
William chose to take a gap year
after finishing Eton College. He
took part in British Army training
in Belize. He spent the final stage
of his gap year in southern Chile as
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
until he was graduated in 2005. He
embarked on a degree course in Arts
History, although he later changed
his main subject to Geography and
gained a Scottish master's degree
with upper-second class honours. At
St Andrews, William used the name
William Wales.
In January 2006, the prince began
his course at the Royal Military
Academy Sandhurst to train as an
Officer Cadet. William joined his
brother who had been there since May
2005.
Alternative style Sir
In July 2005, William carried out
his first official engagements,
representing Queen Elizabeth at
World War II commemorations in New
Zealand. In September of the same
year, it was announced that William
will become president of The
Football Association in May 2006 and
patron to the UK charity Centrepoint
[1], which works with homeless young
people. Centrepoint is the first
organization to which William is
patron. During his mother's
patronage, William would
occasionally accompany her on
visits.
In October of 2005, the prince
worked in land management at
Chatsworth House, a Peak District
estate of the Duke of Devonshire.
William's second work placement was
at HSBC banking in London, which he
completed in November 2005.
As with many of his predecessors,
Prince William will enter the Armed
Forces. Following his education at
Sandhurst, he has expressed a desire
to be a 'proper officer', and go
wherever his men go. Given his
position, and the reluctance of
previous British governments to
allow the Heir to the Throne into
dangerous situations, it seems
unlikely that this wish will be
fully realised.
Media
Prince William is known to be wary
of the media and tries to avoid the
spotlight. When Paul Burrell was
publishing his story of his time
working with Diana, Princess of
Wales, William issued a statement
with his brother condemning those
people who disrespect her memory.
His uncle, Prince Edward, Earl of
Wessex, was also criticised for
breaking media guidelines by sending
a TV crew to film Prince William
during his education at St Andrews.
Future
As the eldest son of the Prince of
Wales, it is expected that William
will ascend the throne in the
future. If William decides to use
his first name as King, he will be
known as King William V.
Like his mother, William is said to
possess a strong dislike for
excessive royal protocol, and
desires greater personal
independence. Some journalists have
even speculated that William may
choose not to become king at all,
due to frustration with the
constraints of the monarchy. Such
claims are largely speculation. His
brother, Harry, has stated that
William has promised him that he
will never abdicate, forcing Harry
to take on the role.
Romances
Prince William with his girlfriend
Kate MiddletonWilliam's love life
has been the subject of speculation.
Many young and eligible women have
been linked to the prince, most
recently Kate Middleton, but he has
insisted that he will not marry
until he is older. News reports
emerged in August 2005 that
Middleton will move into Clarence
House with William. Rumours of an
imminent royal wedding have also
circulated.
Style and arms
Coat of Arms of Prince William of
WalesPrince William is styled as a
Prince of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Northern Ireland,
with the style His Royal Highness.
As the eldest son of the future
monarch, it is likely that he will
be created Prince of Wales after his
father's accession, although this is
not automatic. He will, however,
become Duke of Cornwall in the event
of his father's accession.
On his 18th birthday, his
grandmother Queen Elizabeth II
granted Prince William his own
personalised coat of arms. His arms
are those of the Royal Coat of Arms
of the United Kingdom with a label
for difference: Quarterly 1st and
4th, Gules three Lions passant
guardant in pale Or (England) 2nd,
Or a Lion rampant within a Double
Tressure flory counterflory Gules
(Scotland) 3rd, Azure a Harp Or
stringed Argent (Ireland) the whole
differenced by a Label of three
points Argent the central point
charged with an Escallop Gules. The
Escallop Gules is in reference to
his mother, the late Diana, Princess
of Wales, as the Escallop appears in
the Spencer coat of arms. As the
eldest son of the eldest son of the
sovereign, his arms are differenced
by a label of three points unlike
the arms of other grandchildren of
the sovereign (if granted) which are
differenced by a label of five
points.
Surname usage
Under an 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
surnames of Elizabeth and Philip.
However though titled, the Queen's
children have all decided to use the
surname also in honour of their
father. For their banns for their
first marriages, both William's
aunt, Anne, Princess Royal and his
own father, the Prince of Wales,
used Mountbatten-Windsor rather than
Windsor. Mountbatten-Windsor is now
officially 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" while the Earl and Countess
of Wessex's daughter going by
precedent will use "Wessex" or
"Edinburgh", if their father has
succeeded to the title Duke of
Edinburgh at that point. (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.
See also: British Royal Family
This Prince William Biography Page is Copyright © 2004 - 2006 Chuck Ayoub