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Prince William of Wales (William Arthur Philip Louis Mountbatten-Windsor), born 21 June 1982, is a member of the British Royal Family, grandson of Queen Elizabeth II and first son of the Prince of Wales and the late Diana, Princess of Wales. Prince William is second in the line of succession to the British throne, after his father and before his brother, Prince Harry.
As Prince William is in the direct line of succession, he is expected to ascend to the position of King of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth Realms sometime in the future.
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Prince William was born on June 21, 1982 at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, West London. His father is Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. His mother was Diana, Princess of Wales, a daughter of the 8th Earl Spencer. He has a younger brother, Prince Harry of Wales. 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 his parents affectionately called him Wombat. He is sometimes known as Wills.
He was christened on his great-grandmother's Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother 82nd birthday on August 4, 1982 in the Music Room at Buckingham Palace by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Robert Runcie. His godparents were: King Constantine of Greece, Sir Laurens van der Post, Princess Alexandra, the Duchess of Westminster, Lord Romsey and Lady Susan Hussey.
Through his mother, Prince William is descended from both the Duke of Grafton and the Duke of Richmond, two illegitimate sons of King Charles II of England. Thus, upon his expected ascension as King, he will be the first British monarch descended from Charles II, as well as the first descended from Charles I since the death of Queen Anne in 1714.
On 31 August 1997 Prince William's mother, Diana, Princess of Wales and her companion, Dodi Al-Fayed, were 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 to 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 or of Diana's mother before her death.
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 Eton, Berkshire. He studied geography, biology and history of art at A-level. The prince is left handed.
Like many British teenagers, Prince William chose 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.
After his gap year, Prince William attended the University of St Andrews in Fife, Scotland from 2001 until he was graduated in 2005. He embarked on a degree course in Arts History, although he later changed his main subject to Geography and gained a Scottish master's degree with upper-second class honours. At St Andrews, William used the name William Wales.
In January 2006, the prince began his course at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst to train as an Officer Cadet. William joined his brother who had been there since May 2005.
In July 2005, William carried out his first official engagements, representing Queen Elizabeth at World War II commemorations in New Zealand. In September of the same year, it was announced that William will become president of The Football Association in May 2006 and patron to the UK charity Centrepoint, which works with homeless young people. Centrepoint is the first organization to which William is patron. During his mother's patronage, William would occasionally accompany her on visits.
In October of 2005, the prince worked in land management at Chatsworth House, a Peak District estate of the Duke of Devonshire. William's second work placement was at HSBC banking in London, which he completed in November 2005.
As with many of his predecessors, Prince William will enter the Armed Forces. Following his education at Sandhurst, he has expressed a desire to be a 'proper officer', and go wherever his men go. Given his position, and the reluctance of previous British governments to allow the Heir to the Throne into dangerous situations, it seems unlikely that this wish will be fully realised.
Prince William is known to be wary of the media and tries to avoid the spotlight. 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 disrespect her memory. His uncle, Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, was also criticised for breaking media guidelines by sending a TV crew to film Prince William during his education at St Andrews.
As the eldest son of the Prince of Wales, it is expected that William will ascend the throne in the future. If William decides to use his first name as King, he will be known as King William V.
Like his mother, William is said to possess a strong dislike for excessive royal protocol, and desires greater personal independence. Some journalists have even speculated that William may choose not to become king at all, due to frustration with the constraints of the monarchy. Such claims are largely speculation. His brother, Harry, has stated that William has promised him that he will never abdicate, forcing Harry to take on the
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