Photo: Wikipedia
Prince of Wales and heir to the British throne
Prince William
Born 21 June 1982
William was 15 when his mother died, and walked behind her coffin through London while the world watched. Today he is Prince of Wales, a father of three and first in line to the British throne.
• Born in hospital
William Arthur Philip Louis was born on 21 June 1982 at St Mary's Hospital in London. He was the first heir to the British throne to be born in a hospital rather than at home in a palace.
His parents were Charles, then Prince of Wales, and Diana, Princess of Wales. His younger brother Harry followed two years later.
With his parents in 1983, during a tour of New Zealand. Photo: Wikipedia
• Growing up in the spotlight
Diana wanted her sons to grow up as normally as possible. She took them to burger restaurants, to theme parks and into queues like everyone else, and brought them along on official trips from an early age.
William and Harry greet US First Lady Barbara Bush in London in 1991. Photo: Wikipedia
His parents' marriage broke down in public. They separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996.
• When his mother died
On 31 August 1997 Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris. William was 15.
At the funeral he and Harry walked behind the coffin through the streets of London, alongside their father, their grandfather Prince Philip and their uncle Charles Spencer. The pictures of the two boys went around the world, and William has since said it was the hardest thing he has ever done.
• Eton and St Andrews
William was at Eton College from 1995 to 2000. He then took a gap year that included voluntary work in Chile, before starting at the University of St Andrews in Scotland in 2001.
He began in art history but switched to geography, graduating in 2005. It was in student accommodation at St Andrews that he met Catherine Middleton.
William playing polo in 2007. Photo: Wikipedia
• Officer and rescue pilot
In 2006 he entered the Sandhurst military academy, and was commissioned the same year into the Blues and Royals cavalry regiment.
From 2010 to 2013 he was a search and rescue helicopter pilot for the Royal Air Force on Anglesey in Wales, flying out to people in trouble at sea and to accidents in the mountains. From 2015 to 2017 he flew for the East Anglian Air Ambulance, giving his salary to charity.
William in Royal Air Force uniform. Photo: Wikipedia
• The wedding at Westminster Abbey
The engagement was announced in November 2010. William gave Catherine his mother's engagement ring, a sapphire surrounded by diamonds.
They married at Westminster Abbey on 29 April 2011, watched by an estimated two billion people. That morning Queen Elizabeth made him Duke of Cambridge.
On the balcony at Buckingham Palace after the wedding in 2011. Photo: Wikipedia
Their first official overseas tour as a married couple went to Canada in the summer of 2011. Photo: Wikipedia
• Three children
The couple have three children: Prince George, born 22 July 2013, Princess Charlotte, born 2 May 2015, and Prince Louis, born 23 April 2018.
The family lives at Adelaide Cottage in Windsor, and the children go to school nearby. William and Catherine have been clear that they want to shield the children from the press, allowing photographers in on selected occasions instead.
The family of five. Photo: Wikipedia
• Earthshot and Homewards
In 2020 William created the Earthshot Prize. Each year one million pounds is awarded in each of five categories: protect and restore nature, clean our air, revive our oceans, build a waste-free world and fix our climate. The prize has been awarded in London, Boston, Singapore, Cape Town and Rio de Janeiro, and in November 2026 Mumbai is the host city.
The Earthshot Prize ceremony in London in 2021. Photo: Wikipedia
In 2023 he launched Homewards, a five-year programme against homelessness in British towns and cities. The idea is that homelessness should be preventable, not merely managed after the fact.
Mental health is another of his causes. With Catherine and Harry he was behind the Heads Together campaign, intended to make it easier to talk about mental health problems.
• Prince of Wales
When Queen Elizabeth died on 8 September 2022, his father became king. The next day King Charles gave him the title Prince of Wales.
With the title came the Duchy of Cornwall, a large estate that funds the official work of the heir to the throne and his family.
• The hardest year
In 2024 both his father and his wife were diagnosed with cancer. Catherine disclosed her diagnosis in March, completed chemotherapy in September, and said in January 2025 that she was in remission.
In November 2024 William was asked about the year behind him. "It's been dreadful. It's probably been the hardest year in my life," he replied.
• First in line
William is next in line to the British throne, ahead of his son George. He is patron of a range of organisations, and in recent years has taken over several of the duties his father previously held.