Prince William (William Arthur Philip Louis Mountbatten-Windsor) was born on 21 June 1982 at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, West London, England. 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.
Prince William's attended independent schools 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. In 1987, he also joined Fun With Music, a music appreciation class conducted by Ann Rachlin. Then, he attended 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.
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. He graduated on 15 December 2006. The passing out parade was attended by the Queen and Prince Charles, along with other members of the Royal Family.
Prince William will follow his younger brother Prince Harry into the Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons) as a troop leader. After graduating from Sandhurst, Prince William started a six months course at Bovington Camp in Dorset, training to become a troop commander in an armoured reconnaissance unit.
Unlike Prince Harry who will continue as a career soldier, Prince William will go on to spend time with both the RAF and the Royal Navy to prepare him for his future role. He will also increasingly carry out public engagements in parallel to his military career.
In an interview to mark his 21st birthday he said "I want people to call me William for now. I don't want all the formalities because they're not needed for the time being." Regarding rumours that he does not want to inherit the throne he is on record as stating "It's something I was born into and it is my duty. These stories about me not wanting to be King are all wrong. It's a very important role and one that I don't take lightly. It's all about helping people and dedication and loyalty, which I hope I have - I know I have."
In December, 2005, he became patron of the Tusk Trust, an African conservation trust based in the UK, he also became patron of Centrepoint in May 2006, a charity for homeless young people, his mother had previously been patron and it was a cause very dear to her. William had often accompanied her on visits to Centrepoint shelters as a child, where he had learned much about the charity's work.
Upon the presumed accession of his father to the throne, William will automatically, and immediately, inherit the titles of Duke of Rothesay and Duke of Cornwall and it is expected that he will be invested by the king as Prince of Wales, although this is not automatic.
Should his father predecease the Queen, leaving William as first-in-line to the throne, he may well inherit his father's principal title directly.
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 might be given to Prince William in the future.
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. Were William to decide to use his first name as his regnal name, he would be known as William V. However, William is free to use any one of his Christian names as a regnal name, as per Edward VII (Prince Albert) and George VI (also Prince Albert).
Sources: Wikipedia
Prince William at royal.gov.uk
Prince William at princeofwales.gov.uk.org
Prince William
graduates from RMAS at bbc.co.uk
RMAS Graduation in
pictures at bbc.co.uk
