Prince William of Wales

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Prince William
Prince William of Wales

Full name
William Arthur Philip Louis Mountbatten-Windsor
Titles
HRH Prince William of Wales
Royal House	House of Windsor
Father	Charles, Prince of Wales
Mother	Diana, Princess of Wales
Born	21 June 1982 St Mary's Hospital, London
Baptised	4 August 1982 Buckingham Palace, London
Occupation	Military - Cadet, Sandhurst

"Prince William" redirects here. For other uses, see Prince William (disambiguation).

Prince William of Wales (William Arthur Philip Louis Mountbatten-Windsor; born 21 June 1982) is the elder son of The Prince of Wales and his first wife, the late Diana, Princess of Wales. He is second in the line of succession to the British throne and thrones of each of the other Commonwealth Realms. As the son of The Prince of Wales and grandson of Queen Elizabeth II, Prince William is a member of the British Royal Family. He is currently in training as an army officer at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and is due to enter the Blues and Royals regiment of the Household Cavalry of the British Army like his younger brother Prince Harry.[1]

1 Birth, family, and childhood
- 1.1 Death of Diana, Princess of Wales
2 Education
3 Royal and Noble Titles
4 Royal duties and career
- 4.1 Future
5 Romances
6 Style and arms
7 Surname usage
8 See also
9 External links
10 Notes

[edit] Birth, family, and childhood

Prince William was born on 21 June 1982 at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, West London. His father is Charles, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. His mother was Diana, Princess of Wales, youngest daughter of the 8th Earl Spencer. 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, he was affectionately called by his parents Wombat or Wills.

He was christened on his great-grandmother's 82nd birthday on 4 August 1982 in the Music Room at Buckingham Palace by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Robert Runcie. His godparents are: King Constantine of Greece, Sir Laurens van der Post, Princess Alexandra, the Duchess of Westminster, Lord Romsey and Lady Susan Hussey.

Through his mother on his grandfather's side, Prince William is descended from both the Duke of Grafton and the Duke of Richmond, two illegitimate sons of King Charles II of England and King James II of England, through an illegitimate daughter. William, should he become King, would be the first monarch since Queen Anne to be a direct descendent of Charles I of England.

He has a younger brother, Prince Harry. His father's second wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, is their stepmother, giving the princes a step-brother, Tom Parker Bowles, and step-sister, Laura Lopes.

On 1 March 1991 (St. David's Day), Prince William made his first official public appearance during a visit to Cardiff, the capital city 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 scar is still visible today.

The prince has been a keen fan of Aston Villa F.C. since childhood.

[edit] Death of Diana, Princess of Wales

British Royalty
Royal Family
Image:Royal Standard of England.svg
HM The Queen
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh HRH The Prince of Wales HRH The Duchess of Cornwall HRH Prince William of Wales HRH Prince Henry of Wales HRH The Duke of York HRH Princess Beatrice of York HRH Princess Eugenie of York HRH The Earl of Wessex HRH The Countess of Wessex Lady Louise Windsor HRH The Princess Royal HRH The Duke of Gloucester HRH The Duchess of Gloucester HRH The Duke of Kent HRH The Duchess of Kent HRH Prince Michael of Kent HRH Princess Michael of Kent HRH Princess Alexandra This box: view • talk • edit</div>

On 31 August 1997, Prince William's mother, Diana, was 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 in a 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 and also had little contact with Frances Shand Kydd, Diana's mother, before her death.

[edit] Education

Prince William's schooling has been conducted entirely in the English public school system. He attended the Mrs Jane Mynors' nursery school and the pre-preparatory Wetherby School, both in West London, and then Ludgrove School in Berkshire, a preparatory school. After passing an entrance exam, he went on to Eton College in Berkshire. Whilst there, he studied geography, biology and history of art at A-level.

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 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, graduating in 2005. He embarked on a degree course in Art History, but later changed his main subject to Geography. William earned a Scottish Master of Arts degree with upper-second class honours, 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. William joined his brother who had been there since May 2005.

[edit] Royal and Noble Titles

•Prince of The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Royal Highness.

•Prince of Scotland, Royal Highness.

•Prince of Wales, Royal Highness.

•Prince of Greece, Royal Highness.

•Prince of Denmark, Royal Highness.

•Prince of Edinburgh, Royal Highness.

•Prince of Cornwall, Royal Highness.

•Prince of Rothesay, Royal Highness.

•Lord of Carrick

•Lord of Chester

[edit] Royal duties and career

Styles of HRH Prince William of Wales

Reference style	His Royal Highness
Spoken style	Your Royal Highness
Alternative style	Sir

In July 2005, William carried out his first official engagements representing Elizabeth II, as Queen of 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 Duke of Devonshire. William's second work placement was with the HSBC Group in London.

William's first patronage was to the UK charity Centrepoint, <ref name="refbot.812">Prince William Patron of Centrepoint. Retrieved on March 21, 2006.</ref> which works with homeless 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 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 August of 2006, the Queen appointed Prince William to two patronages of the Royal Navy. William is Commodore-in-Chief for Scotland and Commodore-in-Chief for submarines.

Like many of his predecessors, Prince William has chosen to serve in the Armed Forces. Following his education and officer training at Sandhurst, he has expressed a desire to serve as an active soldier and to fight on the frontline. 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.

[edit] Future

It is expected that upon the accession of his father to the throne, William will inherit the titles of Duke of Rothesay and Duke of Cornwall and will be invested by the king as Prince of Wales.

As the eldest son of the current Prince of Wales, William is also expected to 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 will be known as King William V. However, William is free to use any one of his Christian names as a regnal name, as per Prince Albert Edward and Prince Albert. Were he to decide on any of the three (Arthur Philip Louis), this usage would be the first for a regnal name.

Like his mother, William is said to possess a strong dislike for excessive royal protocol, and desires greater personal independence.

[edit] Romances

William's love life has been the subject of much conjecture. Over the years, many young and inelegible women have been romantically and speculatively linked to the prince, including popstars such as Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera (a Roman Catholic) and Natalie Imbruglia (a Roman Catholic). In 2006, the media began intensively reporting his long-term relationship with Kate Middleton, formerly one of his university flatmates, whom he began dating in 2004. She has been seen in royal circles, vacationed with William and has been a guest at events suggesting that the relationship has official approval. There has been no statement from the Queen or Prince Charles regarding their views of the relationship or a possible marriage, but rumours of an imminent royal engagement have circulated <ref name="www.ctv.ca.813">CTV.ca : Rumours swirl of wedding for Prince William. Retrieved on December 5, 2005.</ref><ref name="msnbc4_28">Tabloids Guess Prince William to Pop the Question. Retrieved on 28 April, 2006.</ref>. According to a 2006 December issue of People's magazine, a palace spokeman stated that Kate Middleton is not at this time being groomed to be a future princess nor being advised. The Queen and royal family would prefer to see Prince William take the relationship slow and not rush into anything in order to avoid recreating another disasterous marriage in the royal family. Prince William has stated he has no plans to marry in the near future.

[edit] Style and arms

Prince William is styled as a Prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, with the title 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. (Should his father predecease Queen Elizabeth II, leaving William as first-in-line to the throne, William may well inherit his father's title directly.) He will, however, automatically become Duke of Cornwall in the event of his father's accession (but not if his father predeceases Queen Elizabeth II). The issue of what title, if any, Prince William might receive prior to his father's accession to the throne is more problematic. Buckingham Palace has refused to speculate as to what title Queen Elizabeth might bestow upon Prince William in the future.

On his 18th birthday, Prince William was granted his own personalized 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.

[edit] 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, Charles, 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" (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.

[edit] See also

Royal William, a German red rose named after Prince William shortly after his birth.
British prince

[edit] External links

[edit] Notes

Other Offices
Preceded by: Charles, Prince of Wales	Line of succession to the British Throne	Succeeded by: Prince Harry of Wales
Preceded by: Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex	United Kingdom order of precedence Gentlemen