Here's a look at the life of Prince William, heir apparent to the throne of the United Kingdom of Great Britain.
Personal
Birth date: June 21, 1982
Birth place: London, England
Birth name: William Arthur Philip Louis
Mother: Diana, Princess of Wales
Marriage: Catherine Elizabeth Middleton (April 29, 2011-present)
Children: George Alexander Louis, Charlotte Elizabeth Diana and Louis Arthur Charles
Education: University of St. Andrews, in Scotland, 2001-2005, MA, Geography; Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, 2006
Military: British Army, Captain-Household Cavalry; Royal Air Force, Lieutenant, 2006-2013
Prince William opens up about loss of his mother 02:28
Other Facts
Has achieved the highest educational degree, Masters of Arts, of any member of the royal family.
During his military career, participated in more than 150 helicopter search and rescue operations.
Timeline
2000-2001 - Prince William spends his "gap year" in Belize, working on a farm in the United Kingdom, helping in community projects with other young people in a remote area of Chile and visiting countries in Africa.
June 2005 - Graduates with honors from St. Andrews University in Scotland with a degree in geography.
September 2005 - Becomes the patron of Centrepoint, the UK's largest youth charity for the homeless.
December 2005 - Becomes the patron of the Tusk Trust, a UK-based African conservation charity.
December 12, 2006 - Prince William and Prince Harry announce their plans for a concert and memorial service to mark the 10th anniversary of their mother's death. The Concert for Diana is held on July 1, 2007, and features Elton John and Duran Duran. The memorial service takes place on August 31.
December 15, 2006 - Graduates as an Army officer from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and joins the Household Cavalry (Blues and Royals) as a Second Lieutenant.
June 21, 2007 - Prince William turns 25 and gains access to almost £250,000 ($500,000) a year of his mother's fortune. He also no longer must have the Queen's consent to get married.
April 11, 2008 - Prince William receives Royal Air Force pilot's wings.
April 27, 2008 - Prince William secretly travels to Afghanistan aboard a C-17 transport plane and receives a briefing on military operations. Reportedly, he pilots the plane during part of the flight and escorts the body of Queens Royal Lancer, Trooper Robert Pearson to his family.
June 2-September 8, 2008 - Prince William serves a two-month attachment with the Royal Navy in the Caribbean. William is known as Sub Lieutenant Wales on the ship, whose mission is counter-narcotics and hurricane relief.
June 16, 2008 - Is invested as a 'Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.' He becomes the youngest knight and 1,000th member in the world's oldest order of chivalry, started in 1348.
February 2010 - Prince William becomes the new president of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).
November 16, 2010 - Prince Charles announces the engagement of Prince William to his longtime girlfriend Kate Middleton.
April 29, 2011 - The Queen confers a Dukedom on Prince William of Wales. His titles will be Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn and Baron Carrickfergus.
April 29, 2011 - Marries Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey.
June 30-July 8, 2011 - First official trip to a foreign country for the royal couple, to Canada.
July 8-10, 2011 - The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visit Los Angeles for a three-day visit. During the trip, the Duke plays and wins a polo match and the couple visits Hollywood and Skid Row.
June 7, 2012 - William qualifies as an operational captain with the Royal Air Force Search and Rescue Force. He is now able to command search and rescue operations by helicopter.
September 17, 2012 - Along with his wife, William files a criminal complaint in France against the photographer who took pictures of Catherine privately sunbathing topless. They are seeking damages and to prevent further publication of the photos. The French magazine, Closer, Italian magazine, Chi, and the Irish Daily Star have each published some of the topless photos.
July 22, 2013 - Catherine gives birth to the couple's first child, a son weighing 8 lbs., 6 oz. The baby is named Prince George Alexander Louis.
September 12, 2013 - Kensington Palace officials announce that William has left the British military. He will now focus on charity work and his royal duties.
August 7, 2014 - It is announced that William will start training in September to become an air ambulance pilot, a year after leaving the Royal Air Force, where he flew search and rescue helicopters. His first air ambulance shift will be in spring 2015. It's the first time a royal who's in direct line to the throne has taken a civilian job. The East Anglian Air Ambulance is operated by a private company, Bond Air Services, but the Duke will donate his salary to charity.
May 2, 2015 - Catherine gives birth to the couple's second child, a daughter weighing 8 lbs., 3 oz. She is named Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.
May 16, 2016 - Along with Catherine and Prince Harry, launches the Heads Together campaign, which aims to end the stigma around mental health.
September 5, 2017 - A French court rules that the topless sunbathing pictures of the Duchess were an invasion of privacy, awarding her and William 100,000 euros (about $119,000) in damages.
April 23, 2018 - Catherine gives birth to the couple's third child, a son weighing 8 lbs., 7 oz. The baby is named Louis Arthur Charles.
December 31, 2019 - Launches the Earthshot Prize. A multi-million pound award aimed at dispelling pessimism over the climate crisis and replacing it with action to repair the planet.
June 6, 2020 - Reveals he has secretly been volunteering with Shout to assist people struggling with mental health issues during the coronavirus lockdown.
November 1, 2020 - The BBC reports, citing palace sources, that William tested positive for coronavirus earlier in the year. It is unknown when exactly he became infected.
May 20, 2021 - William lambasts the BBC for contributing "significantly to her fear, paranoia and isolation" felt by his late mother, Princess Diana, in the years before her death. The comments come after the BBC offered an unconditional apology over the controversial 1995 interview by BBC journalist Martin Bashir with Diana, in which she detailed the breakdown of her relationship with Prince Charles. An inquiry has found that he used "deceitful" methods to secure the landmark interview.
September 8, 2022 - Queen Elizabeth II dies, and Charles ascends to the throne.
September 10, 2022 - King Charles III announces William will be given the title Prince of Wales.
Photos: Will and Kate's royal family
Britain's Prince William and his wife, Catherine, walk with their three children -- from left, George, Charlotte and Louis -- in Norfolk, England. The photo was featured on the family Christmas card in December 2022.
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Prince Louis is pushed in a wheelbarrow by his mother in Windsor, England, in April 2023. The photo was released by Kensington Palace to mark Louis' fifth birthday.
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William and Catherine meet a boy dressed as a royal guard while visiting Boston in December 2022. The royal couple was in Boston to attend the Earthshot Prize Awards that William founded two years prior.
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William and Catherine walk with Prince George and Princess Charlotte at the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022.
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William and Catherine arrive with George, Louis and Charlotte at a school in Bracknell, England, in September 2022.
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Prince Louis holds his hands over his ears as jets roar over Buckingham Palace during the Trooping the Colour parade in London in June 2022. From left are Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall; Prince Charles; Queen Elizabeth II; Louis; Catherine; Charlotte; George; and William.
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This photo of Prince William and his children in Jordan was released by Kensington Palace to celebrate Father's Day in June 2022.
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William and Catherine play drums while visiting the Trench Town Culture Yard Museum in Kingston, Jamaica, in March 2022. They were on a royal tour of the Caribbean.
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This image provided by Kensington Palace made the family's Christmas card in 2020.
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William and Catherine visit an air squadron in London in April 2021. During the visit, the squadron paid tribute to William's late grandfather, Prince Philip, who served as Air Commodore-in-Chief of the Air Training Corps for 63 years.
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William and Catherine attend the funeral service of Prince Philip in April 2021.
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William and Catherine visit Westminster Abbey, where a Covid-19 vaccination center had been set up in London in March 2021.
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William, Catherine and their children arrive for a pantomime performance at the London Palladium Theatre in December 2020. They were there to thank key workers and their families for their efforts throughout the pandemic.
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William watches Catherine pour a tray of bagel dough into a container during a visit to a London bakery in September 2020.
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The royal family meets with naturalist David Attenborough at Kensington Palace in September 2020. This was after a private screening of Attenborough's latest environmental documentary, "A Life On Our Planet," which focuses on the harm that has been done to the natural world in recent decades.
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Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, follow William and Catherine after attending the annual Commonwealth Service in London in March 2020.
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William and Catherine visit a settlement of the Kalash people in Chitral, Pakistan, in October 2019.
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William and Catherine escort Princess Charlotte -- accompanied by her brother, Prince George -- as Charlotte arrives for her first day of school in September 2019.
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The family is photographed during Trooping the Colour, the Queen's annual birthday parade, in June 2019.
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Catherine shows William and Queen Elizabeth II around the "Back to Nature Garden" that she helped designed as they visit the Chelsea Flower Show in London in May 2019.
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Prince William kisses his son Louis as they pose for a photo in Norfolk that was taken by Catherine in 2019.
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From left, William, Catherine, Meghan and Harry arrive for a Christmas Day church service in 2018.
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Catherine holds Prince Louis after arriving for his christening service in London in July 2018.
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Catherine holds their newborn baby son Louis outside a London hospital on April 23, 2018.
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Prince William holds the hands of George and Charlotte as they visit the hospital to meet their new brother.
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Harry, Meghan, Catherine and William attend the Royal Foundation Forum in London in February 2018.
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William and Catherine attend the BAFTA Awards in London in February 2018.
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Catherine is escorted to dinner by Norwegian King Harald V during a visit to Norway in February 2018. William is escorted by Norway's Queen Sonja.
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This image of William, Catherine, George and Charlotte was used for the family's 2017 Christmas card.
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Paddington Bear dances with Catherine during a charity event in London in October 2017.
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The royal family arrives at the airport in Berlin for a three-day visit in Germany in July 2017.
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This photo of Charlotte was taken in April 2017 by her mother.
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Charlotte is held by her mother as her family ends an eight-day tour of Canada in October 2016. At left is her brother George and her father.
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William and Catherine released new photos of Prince George to mark his third birthday in July 2016. Here he plays with the family's pet dog, Lupo.
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Members of the royal family gather on a balcony in June 2016 during celebrations marking the 90th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II. Catherine is holding Charlotte.
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Kensington Palace released four photos of Princess Charlotte ahead of her first birthday in May 2016.
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US President Barack Obama talks with Prince William as Catherine plays with Prince George in April 2016. The President and first lady Michelle Obama were visiting Kensington Palace.
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Prince George gets a boost from some foam blocks for a special family photo in April 2016. The portrait, featuring the four generations of the House of Windsor, was commissioned by the Royal Mail and would be featured on a series of stamps to commemorate the Queen's 90th birthday.
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William and Catherine pose with their children during a trip to the French Alps in March 2016.
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The family poses for a Christmas photo in December 2015.
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Princess Charlotte plays with a stuffed dog in this photo taken by her mother in November 2015.
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William and Catherine pose with their children at Charlotte's christening in July 2015.
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Princess Charlotte is seen with her big brother for the first time in this photo released by Kensington Palace in June 2015.
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William and Catherine present their newborn daughter as they leave a London hospital in May 2015.
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The royal family celebrates Prince George's first birthday with a trip to the Natural History Museum in July 2014.
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The royal family waves to a crowd before boarding a plane in Wellington, New Zealand, in April 2014. They went on a three-week tour of Australia and New Zealand.
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The royal couple attends the Tusk Conservation Awards at the Royal Society in London in September 2013.
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William and Catherine start an ultra-marathon in Holyhead, Wales, in August 2013. It was Catherine's first public appearance since the birth of Prince George.
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The couple are pictured with their newborn boy, Prince George, in 2013. The new parents released two family photographs taken by Michael Middleton, Catherine's father.
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William, Catherine and their newborn son depart St. Mary's Hospital in London in July 2013.
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In April 2013, Harry, Catherine and William visit the set used to depict Diagon Alley in the "Harry Potter" films.
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William and Catherine attend a St. Patrick's Day parade as they visit Aldershot, England, in March 2013.
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In September 2012, the couple drank coconut milk from a tree that Queen Elizabeth II planted decades ago in the South Pacific nation of Tuvalu.
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Catherine and William celebrate during cycling events at the Olympic Games in London in August 2012.
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Queen Elizabeth II, William and Catherine stand on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations in June 2012.
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As part of their charity work, the couple attended a "healthy living cookery session" in London in December 2011.
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The newly married royal couple watches a rodeo demonstration at a government reception in Calgary, Alberta, in July 2011.
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Catherine shovels soil during a tree-planting ceremony in Ottawa in July 2011.
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William and Catherine attend a Snowbirds air show during Canada Day celebrations in July 2011.
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The Obamas meet with the royal couple at Buckingham Palace in May 2011.
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The newlyweds walk hand in hand from Buckingham Palace the day after their wedding in April 2011.
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After their wedding on April 29, 2011, the couple drove from Buckingham Palace to Clarence House in a vintage Aston Martin.
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William and Catherine kiss on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after their wedding ceremony in London.
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The pair returned to their alma mater in St. Andrews, Scotland, in February 2011. They launched a fundraising campaign for a new scholarship.
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The couple poses for photographers to mark their engagement in November 2010. Catherine received the engagement ring that belonged to William's late mother, Diana.
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The couple cheers on the English rugby team during the Six Nations Championship match in London in February 2007.
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The couple takes a photo after graduating from the University of St. Andrews in June 2005. They met at school and even shared a house with others while students.
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