William Louis

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (William Arthur Philip Louis; 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.

Prince William became a big brother in September 1984, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex

In 2011, Prince William was made Duke of Cambridge preceding his marriage to Catherine Middleton. The couple have three children: Prince George (b. 2013), Princess Charlotte (b. 2015), and Prince Louis (b. 2018).

Birth and baptism
Prince William was born at St Mary's Hospital, London on 21 June 1982 as the first child of Charles, Prince of Wales (heir apparent to Queen Elizabeth II) and Diana, Princess of Wales. His names, William Arthur Philip Louis, were announced by Buckingham Palace on 28 June. 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. He was the first child born to a Prince and Princess of Wales since Prince John in 1905. William accompanied his parents on their 1983 tour of Australia and New Zealand, when he was nine months old, as his first trip overseas. He traveled with his family to Canada in 1991 and 1998

On August 4, 1982, six-week-old Prince William was baptized in the music room at Buckingham Palace, and, despite the picture-perfect moments caught on camera, the day didn't exactly go off without a hitch.

Like all royal christenings, William wore the Honiton white lace gown (a garment first commissioned by Queen Victoria in 1842) and posed for the official family portrait, but not every detail fell in line with tradition.

His parents divorced in 1996. Diana 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. 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. William and Harry walked behind the funeral cortège from Kensington Palace to Westminster Abbey.

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 William's 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. John Wakeham, chairman of the Press Complaints Commission, said of the arrangement, "Prince William is not an institution; nor a soap star; nor a football hero. He is a boy: in the next few years, perhaps the most important and sometimes painful part of his life, he will grow up and become a man."

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. 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 William 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 $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.

title

 * 1982–2011: His Royal Highness Prince William of Wales
 * 2011–present: His Royal Highness The Duke of Cambridge