HRH Prince William of Wales
William Arthur Philip Louis

His Royal Highness Prince William of Wales (William Arthur Philip Louis Mountbatten-Windsor) (born June 21, 1982) is a member of the British Royal Family, a grandson of Queen Elizabeth II. Prince William is second in the line of succession to the British throne.

Prince William is expected to ascend the throne of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland at some point in the future.

Birth

Prince William was born on June 21, 1982 at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, West London. His father is His Royal Highness Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. His mother is the late Diana, Princess of Wales, the former wife of the Prince of Wales who died in 1997. He has a younger brother, HRH Prince Harry. As a grandchild of the British monarch in the male line, he was styled His Royal Highness Prince William of Wales. He is sometimes nicknamed Wills.

In 2004, the American television network, NBC broadcast tapes of Prince William's mother, Diana as she described a suicide attempt while pregnant with William. It is now known that Diana suffered postnatal depression after the birth of William.

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 Windsor. He studied geography, biology and history of art at A-level.

After completing his A-levels, Prince William chose to attend the University of St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. He embarked on a degree course in Arts History. He is currently in his honours year at the university. Prince William stays in a modest apartment in the town of St Andrews and is often found in the nearby city of Edinburgh.

Death of Diana, Princess of Wales

On 31 August 1997 Prince William's mother, Diana, Princess of Wales 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 and were woken from their sleep by their father, Charles, to be told the tragic news.

At Diana's funeral, Prince William accompanied his father and brother and his grandfather, Prince Philip, and his uncle, the Earl Spencer to walk behind Diana's funeral cortege from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey. Both William and Harry were praised for their strength shown on that day.

During his eulogy, the Earl Spencer, promised that the Spencer family would take an active interest in looking after Diana's children, although William saw little of him and Diana's mother in future years.

Gap Year

Like many British teenagers, Prince William choose 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.

Pictures were also broadcast worldwide of the young prince, along with his father Prince Charles learning to drive a Humvee under the supervision of millitary officers at West Point Military Academy. The instructors had to stress beforehand to the two royals that despite its deceiving appearence, the Humvee was in fact only for use on the road and could not float. It may be noted however that they did manage to take the Humvee through a few puddles without sinking.

Media

Prince William is known to be wary of the media and tries to avoid the spotlight, unlike his more controversial brother. 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 disregard her memory. His uncle, Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex was also criticised for breaking media guidelines on reporting on Prince William during his education at St Andrews by sending a TV crew to film him.

Future King

As the eldest son of the Prince of Wales, it is expected that William will ascend the throne at some point in the future. It has been suggested that Prince Charles, Prince of Wales renounce his right to succeed in favour of William, who is inherently more popular than Charles. The Queen is known to spend time with William, tutoring him on his future role.

At the present, however, Prince William is relatively free of royal responsibility. He currently does not carry out official engagements on behalf of the Queen. He also announced of his attention not to use the style His Royal Highness while at university, however this is still his official style as reported in the Court Circular. The future bride for William is also subject to speculation. Many young and eligible women have been linked to the prince. Even Britney Spears was linked to William.

Prince William's 21st birthday party at Windsor Castle was marred by a breach of security which saw the self styled 'Comedy Terrorist', Aaron Barschak scaled the walls of the castle and entered William's party, storming the stage where William was giving a speech before being arrested.

See Also

• List of British princes
• Coat of Arms of Prince William of Wales

William Henry, son of Prince Frederick, Prince of Wales, was, technically, a "Prince William of Wales" at the time of his birth, but is generally known by the titles he later acquired -- Duke of Gloucester and Duke of Edinburgh. For other famous "Prince Williams" see Prince William.