Prince William has been preparing for years for the moment that came Thursday with the death of Queen Elizabeth II, when the popular man became the heir to the British throne at the age of 40, and will be under the microscope even more as his brother Harry has withdrawn from the royal family.
The eldest son of Charles and Diana, who inherited his mother’s blonde hair, acquired at a very young age the sense of duty that a future king was supposed to have.
Over the years, William captured the hearts of Britons, many of whom would have liked to have succeeded his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, rather than his father, who was not so highly regarded by his fellow citizens.
Prince William and his wife Kate from the visit
William is keen to live as normal a life as possible while waiting for his turn, so he takes care of his three young children with whom he lives in Kensington Palace in London, and obeys the rules that restrict the public actions of children of the royal family.
Prince William worked for two years as a pilot flying ambulance helicopters for a charitable foundation specializing in this field, but he left this voluntary mission in 2017 in order to devote himself to his duties within the royal family. His role increased in importance as his grandmother Elizabeth II aged and declined, while his brother Harry and uncle Andrew were moving away from the royal family.
Harry moved to California in 2020 and resides there with his family, after he and his wife, Meghan Markle, were bothered by British media harassment. As for Prince Andrew, he was asked to stay out of the limelight because of his relationship with US financial expert Jeffrey Epstein, who was accused of sexually exploiting underage girls for years and committed suicide in prison.
Princes Charles and William
close to his children
William was born on June 21, 1982, a year after his parents married, and grew up as far as possible outside the royal cocoon, just like his younger brother Harry, their mother Diana doing everything she could to get them to know “real life”, taking them to amusement parks or even To the homeless shelters that the “People’s Princess” supported.
William once recounted that his mother “loudly” sang “The Best” to Tina Turner to cool off when she was taking him and Harry to their boarding school.
However, the divorce of his parents in 1996 and the death of Diana a year later in a car accident in Paris while the hunters chased her, put an end to this carefree and carefree life, and William was only fifteen years old.
After completing his studies at the elite Eton School, William spent a year traveling to Africa and participating in army activities in Belize.
The prince then attended the prestigious University of St Andrews in Scotland where he studied art history and then geography.
There, he met Kate Middleton, the daughter of a former flight attendant who made a fortune with her husband by launching a party supplies company.
William and Kate married in 2011, and nearly two billion TV viewers watched their lavish wedding ceremony.
The couple had three children: George in 2013, Charlotte in 2015 and Louis in 2018. William was proud to announce that he personally changed his children’s diapers, breaking the tradition of the parents of the royal family.
During the stone period that William and his family spent in their second residence in Norfolk (east of England), the Prince persevered in helping his first two children with their homework, and admitted that mathematics was not his strong point.
William keeps his distance from the media and is rarely interviewed.
His musical preferences range from English pop band Coldplay to Australian rock band AC/DC.
In the field of football, which William loves, he supports the Aston Villa team and heads the English Football Association.
William is also active in a number of causes dear to his heart, such as mental health and environmental protection, and for example created the “Earthshot” award, which rewards projects that provide solutions to the climate crisis.
As for his relationship with his wife Kate, he is keen to show her solid. “Most people expect William and Kate to make a great team and to be a great king and queen,” noted royal columnist and journalist Phil Dampier.