Prince William, Duke of Cambridge
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, KG, KT, PC, ADC (William Arthur Philip Louis;[fn 1] born 21 June 1982) is a member of the British royal family. He is the elder son of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Diana, Princess of Wales. Since birth, he has been second in the line of succession to the British throne.
William was educated at four schools in the United Kingdom and studied for a degree at the University of St Andrews. During a gap year, he spent time in Chile, Belize, and Africa. In December 2006, he completed 44 weeks of training as an officer cadet and was commissioned in the Blues and
Royals regiment. In April 2008, William completed pilot training at Royal Air Force College Cranwell, then underwent helicopter flight training and became a full-time pilot with the RAF Search and Rescue Force in early 2009. His service with the British Armed Forces ended in September 2013.[3][4] He then trained for a civil pilot's licence and spent over two years working as a pilot for the East Anglian Air Ambulance.In 2011, Prince William was made Duke of Cambridge and married Catherine Middleton. The couple have three children: Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.
Early life
Prince William was born at Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital, London, at 9:03 pm on 21 June 1982 as the first child of Charles, Prince of Wales—heir apparent to Queen Elizabeth II—and Diana, Princess of Wales.[5][6][7] His names, William Arthur Philip Louis, were announced by Buckingham Palace on 28 June.[5] He was baptised by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie, in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace on 4 August, the 82nd birthday of his paternal great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.[8][fn 2] He was the first child born to a prince and princess of Wales since Prince John in 1905.[10] William's parents affectionately called him "Wombat"[11] or "Wills"—a name coined by the press.[12]
Since his birth, William has been second in the line of succession to the British throne.[13] At age seven, he reportedly told his mother he wanted to be a police officer when he was older so that he might be able to protect her; a statement to which his five-year-old brother Harry reportedly replied, "Oh, no you can't. You've got to be King."[14]
William began accompanying his parents on official visits at an early age. In 1983, he accompanied them on a tour to Australia and New Zealand,[15] a decision made by Diana. The decision was considered to be unconventional because the first- and second-in-line to the throne would be travelling together, and because of William's young age.[16] His first public appearance was on 1 March 1991—Saint David's Day—during an official visit of his parents to Cardiff. After arriving by aeroplane, William was taken to Llandaff Cathedral where he signed the visitors' book, showing he is left-handed.[17]
On 3 June 1991, William was admitted to Royal Berkshire Hospital after being accidentally hit on the forehead by a fellow student wielding a golf club. He suffered a depressed fracture of the skull and was operated on at Great Ormond Street Hospital, resulting in a permanent scar.[18] In a 2009 interview, he dubbed this scar a "Harry Potter scar" and said, "I call it that because it glows sometimes and some people notice it—other times they don't notice it at all".[19]
William's mother wanted him and his younger brother Harry to have wider experiences than are usual for royal children. She took them to Walt Disney World and McDonald's, as well as AIDS clinics and shelters for the homeless, and bought them items typically owned by teenagers, such as video games.[16] Diana, who was by then divorced from Charles, died in a car accident in the early hours of 31 August 1997. William, then aged 15, together with his 12-year-old brother and their father, were staying at Balmoral Castle at the time. The Prince of Wales waited until his sons awoke the following morning to tell them about their mother's death.[20] William accompanied his father, brother, paternal grandfather Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and his maternal uncle Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, at his mother's funeral; they walked behind the funeral cortège from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey.
Personal life
Bachelorhood
William's private life became a subject of tabloid speculation, especially around his relationship with Catherine Middleton, one of William's university flatmates whom William began dating in 2003. Middleton attended William's passing-out parade at Sandhurst, which was the first high-profile event that she attended as his guest. Their relationship was followed so closely that bookmakers took bets on the possibility of marriage and the retail chain Woolworths produced memorabilia bearing the likenesses of the couple.[122] Media attention became so intense that William formally asked the press to keep their distance from Middleton.[122]
It was reported in April 2007 that the couple had split up,[122] but they resumed their relationship a few months later.[123]
Marriage and children
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On 16 November 2010, Clarence House announced that Prince William and Middleton were to marry; the couple had become engaged in Kenya in October.[124] The engagement ring given by William to Catherine had belonged to his mother.
The wedding took place on 29 April 2011 in Westminster Abbey, London.[125] A few hours before the ceremony, William's new titles Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn, and Baron Carrickfergus were announced.[126][127][128][129]
His wife's first pregnancy was announced on 3 December 2012.[130] She was admitted on 22 July 2013 to the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital, London, where Prince William had been delivered. Later that day, she gave birth to Prince George.[131][132] On 8 September 2014, it was announced that the Duchess of Cambridge was pregnant with her second child.[133] She was admitted on 2 May 2015 to the same hospital and gave birth to Princess Charlotte.[134] The Duchess's third pregnancy was announced on 4 September 2017;[135] Prince Louis was born on 23 April 2018.[136]
In March 2017, a video of William dancing with an unidentified woman at a nightclub in Verbier, Switzerland, surfaced in the media.[137] At the time, he was on a skiing holiday with his friends.[138] The press criticised William's behaviour because he had failed to attend the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey, which was attended by other senior members of the royal family.[137]
Privacy and the media
The death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in Paris while being chased by paparazzi in 1997,[139] influenced the Duke's attitude towards the media.[140] The Duke and his wife have asked that, when off-duty, their privacy should be respected.[140]
In September 2012, the French edition of Closer and Italian gossip magazine Chi published photographs of the Duchess of Cambridge sun-bathing topless while on holiday at the Château d'Autet[140] (a private château on a 260-ha estate 71 km[141] north of Aix-en-Provence). Analysts from The Times believed the photographs were taken from the D22 (Vaucluse) road half a kilometre from the pool—a distance that would require an 800-mm or a 1000-mm lens.[142] On 17 September 2012, the Duke and Duchess filed a criminal complaint with the French prosecution department and launched a claim for civil damages at the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Nanterre.[143] The following day the courts granted an injunction against Closer prohibiting further publication of the photographs and announced a criminal investigation would be initiated.[144] Under French law, punitive damages cannot be awarded[145] but intrusions of privacy are a criminal offence carrying a maximum jail sentence of one year and a fine of up to €45,000 for individuals and €225,000 for companies.[146][147] In September 2017, Closer was fined €100,000 and its editor Laurence Pieau and owner Ernesto Mauri were each fined €45,000.[148]
In August 2015, Kensington Palace published a letter detailing what it stated were the "dangerous" and invasive efforts of the media to get paparazzi pictures of Prince George and Princess Charlotte. Jason Knauf, communications secretary to the Cambridges, wrote the letter to media standards organisations in various countries.[149]
Wealth and inheritance
William and his brother Harry inherited the "bulk" of the £12.9 million left by their mother on their respective 30th birthdays, a figure that had grown since her 1997 death to £10 million each in 2014.[150][151] In 2002 The Times reported that William would also share with his brother a payment of £4.9 million from trust funds established by their great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, on their respective 21st birthdays and would share a payment of £8 million upon their respective 40th birthdays. As the eldest son of the heir-apparent, William is expected to inherit the Duchy of Cornwall, which would bring him an additional income.[152]
In 2014 William and Harry inherited their mother's wedding dress along with many other of her personal possessions including dresses, diamond tiaras, jewels, letters, and paintings. The brothers also received the original lyrics and score of "Candle in the Wind" by Bernie Taupin and Elton John as performed by John at Diana's funeral.[151]
Titles and styles
- 1982–2011: His Royal Highness Prince William of Wales
- 2011–present: His Royal Highness The Duke of Cambridge
- In Scotland: His Royal Highness The Earl of Strathearn[153][154][155]
- In Northern Ireland: Baron Carrickfergus[156][157]
The hereditary titles of Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn, and Baron Carrickfergus were announced on 29 April 2011 and formally patented on 26 May that year.[126][fn 3] William is a Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter (KG),[159] a Knight of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle (KT),[153] a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom (PC), and a Personal Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to the Queen.[160]
As a British prince, William does not use a surname for everyday purposes. For formal and ceremonial purposes, children of the Prince of Wales use the title "prince" or "princess" before their forename and follow it with their father's territorial designation. Thus, before his marriage, Prince William was styled "Prince William of Wales". Such territorial designations are discarded by women when they marry and by men if they are given a peerage of their own,[161] such as when Prince William was given his dukedom.
Although the name of the Royal House is Windsor, the surname Mountbatten-Windsor belongs to all the children and male-line descendants of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, and is used, if needed, by those who do not have the style of Royal Highness and the title Prince or Princess;[162] when a female descendant marries, she traditionally takes her husband's surname from that point onward, and their children take their father's.
Both Princes William and Harry used Wales as their surname for military purposes; this continues to be the case for William since his creation as Duke of Cambridg
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