William Mountbatten-Windsor

**William, Prince of Wales** (William Arthur Phillip Louis; born June 21, 1982) is a member of British royal family. He is the oldest child of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales. He is the heir apparent to the British throne.

William has an younger brother Henry, Duke of Sussex (b.1984)

In 2011, Prince William was made Duke of Cambridge preceding his marriage to Catherine, Princess of Wales. The couple has three children: Prince George of Wales, Princess Charlotte of Wales and Prince Louis of Wales

## Early Life

Prince William was born at St Mary's Hospital, London on June 21, 1982. His names, William Arthur Philip Louis, were announced by Buckingham Palace on June 28. He was baptised by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie, in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace on August 4, the 82nd birthday of his paternal great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. William had six godparents: former King Constantine II of Greece (his paternal second cousin once removed); Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Mrs Ogilvy (his paternal first cousin twice removed); the Duchess of Westminster; Lady Susan Hussey; Lord Romsey (his paternal second cousin once removed); and Sir Laurens van der Post.

## Education

William was educated at independent schools, starting at Jane Mynors' nursery school and the pre-preparatory Wetherby School, both in London. Following this, he attended Ludgrove School near Wokingham, Berkshire, and was privately tutored during summers by Rory Stewart. At Ludgrove, he participated in football, swimming, basketball, clay pigeon shooting, and cross country running. He sat the entrance exam to Eton College and was admitted. There, he studied Geography, Biology, and History of Art at A-Level, obtaining an 'A' in Geography, a 'C' in Biology, and a 'B' in History of Art. At Eton, he took up water polo and continued to play football, captaining his house team.

The decision to place William in Eton went against the family tradition of sending royal children to Gordonstoun, which his grandfather, father, two uncles, and two cousins all attended. Diana's father and brother both attended Eton. The royal family and the tabloid press agreed William would be allowed to study free from intrusion in exchange for regular updates about his life.

After completing his studies at Eton, William took a gap year, during which he took part in British Army training exercises in Belize, worked on English dairy farms, visited Africa, and for ten weeks taught children in southern Chile. As part of the Raleigh International programme in the town of Tortel, William lived with other young volunteers, sharing in the common household chores—including cleaning the toilet—and also volunteered as a guest disc jockey at a local radio station. His interest in African culture prompted him to teach himself Swahili.

By 2001, William was back in the United Kingdom and had enrolled at the University of St Andrews. Similar to his time at Eton, the media agreed not to invade William's privacy, and students were warned not to leak stories about him to the press. The extra attention did not deter him; he embarked on a degree course in Art History, later changing his main subject to Geography. William wrote his dissertation on the coral reefs of Rodrigues in the Indian Ocean and graduated with Scottish Master of Arts degree with upper second class honours in 2005. While at university, he represented the Scottish national universities water polo team at the Celtic Nations tournament in 2004.

He was known as "Steve" by other students to avoid any journalists overhearing and realising his identity. William returned to St Andrews alongside his wife in February 2011 as patron of the university's 600th Anniversary Appeal. Upon graduation from university, William interned in land management at Chatsworth House and in banking at HSBC. To prepare for his eventual management of the Duchy of Cornwall, in 2014, he enrolled in a vocational agricultural management course at Cambridge, which was organised by the Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership (CPSL), of which his father is patron. According to a CNN report in 2014, the duchy is "a £760 million (about US$1.25 billion) entity established in 1337 to provide a private income for use by the reigning monarch's eldest son", which William will inherit when his father becomes king.

## Personal Life

### Marriage

On November 16, 2010, Clarence House announced that William and Catherine were to marry; the couple had become engaged in Kenya in October. The engagement ring given by William to Catherine had belonged to his mother. The wedding took place on April 29, 2011 in Westminster Abbey, London. A few hours before the ceremony, William's new titles Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn, and Baron Carrickfergus were announced. Estimates of the global audience for the wedding ranged around 300 million or more, whilst 26 million watched the event live in Britain alone. The couple were given the country home, Anmer Hall, on the Sandringham Estate, as a wedding gift from the Queen. The Duke and Duchess owned an English Cocker Spaniel, Lupo, from December 2011 to November 2020.

### Children

On December 3, 2012, Catherine's first pregnancy was announced. She was admitted on July 22, 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.

On September 8, 2014, it was announced that the Duchess of Cambridge was pregnant with her second child. She was admitted on May 2, 2015 at the same hospital and end up given birth to Princess Charlotte.

On September 4, 2017, Catherine's third pregnancy was announced. Prince Louis was born on April 23, 2018.

## Titles and Succession

* June 21, 1982 - April 29, 2011: *His Royal Highness Prince William of Wales*
* April 29, 2011 - September 8, 2022: *His Royal Highness The Duke of Cambridge*
* September 8, 2022 - September 9 , 2022: *His Royal Highness The Duke of Cornwall and Cambridge*
* September 9, 2022 - Present: *His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales*

on 29 April 2011, It was announced he hereditary titles of Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn, and Baron Carrickfergus and formally patented on May 26 that year. Royal communications have stated that William is formally known as the Earl of Strathearn in Scotland. Since birth, he has been second in the line of succession to the British throne, after his father, but after Queen Elizabeth II's death, he became the heir apparent to the British throne.