From Daredevil to British Monarchy Hope: 20 Facts About Prince William

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1. Prince Charles and Diana Spencer could not choose a name for their first child for a long time. The princess liked the names Oliver and Sebastian, and Charles wanted the eldest son to be called Albert or Arthur. In the end, the parents came to a compromise, if you can call it that decision. The first name was chosen by Diana – William, and Charles – three more. As a result, the prince’s name is William Arthur Philip Louis.

2. William grew up as normal as possible. At the insistence of his mother, he was sent to a regular kindergarten, and then to a boarding school. William lived in a room with other students, he was not singled out. True, despite his sociability and good academic performance, in his early years he often got into fights, which added to the nerves of his parents. Even royal biographers wrote that the firstborn of Diana and Charles was such a fidget in childhood that even a nanny could not cope with him.

3. Despite the fact that William plays polo (as well as hockey and rugby) with his right hand, in fact, he is left-handed. As well as his eldest son George, by the way. But not only is this common between William and his sons – they all show a fair amount of activity and restlessness in childhood, which we recently observed in baby Louis.

4. At an early age, not yet pronouncing all the letters, William called his grandmother Elizabeth … “Gary.” However, she did not mind and waited until her grandson learned to pronounce the word “grandmother”.

5. William is often called the main innovator in the Windsor dynasty (at least in recent decades). He became the first of the heirs to be born in a maternity hospital, and not in a palace, the first who was not home schooled, the first who was taken on a royal tour as a baby (when William was 9 months old, Diana took him and Charles with her to Australia and New Zealand ).

6. For a short time, in 2008, the prince wore a thick beard. But he had to shave it off before starting pilot training in the Royal Air Force.

7. In 2007, William had a breakdown from pressure from relatives who insisted that he get married as soon as possible. The prince called Kate during the working day and broke off contact with her over the phone. Plus, William endlessly repeated to the girl before and after this gap that he did not intend to marry before the age of 30. Rumor has it that soon after that he was seen in a bar shouting, standing on the bar: “Freedom!”. The press service of the family and himself, of course, denied everything.

8. At the same time, their relationship almost ended back in 2004. All because William, surrounded by a company of cheerful and drink-loving friends, was constantly invited to various parties. Once he went to Greece for a bachelor party and returned from there with a desire to be free again.

9. With Kate’s approval, the prince doesn’t wear a wedding ring.

10. William is known as the main sweet tooth of the British royal family. Even the favorite dish of the future king of England is chocolate biscuit cake, which was served at his and Kate’s wedding.

11. The Duke of Cambridge is very fond of cinema and television. And since 2010 he has been President of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. And the first president of BAFTA was his grandfather, Prince Philip.

12. In the documents of the University of St. Andrews, where William studied, he was listed as William Wales, but preferred to be addressed by the name Steve to preserve anonymity. Until now, his university comrades call him that, and someone – Wills.

13. But at home, His Highness had a charming nickname “Wombat”. That’s what his mother called him. William spoke about this in 2007 in an interview with NBC: “It started when I was two. Of course, they told me, because I myself could not remember that time. We were with my parents in Australia, and the wombat, you know, is a local animal. And they started calling me that. Not because I look like a wombat. Although…”. William received his third nickname while serving in the Air Force. Fellow pilots jokingly nicknamed him “Billy the Fish”. The exact history of origin is not known, but it is probably a derivative of his name – Prince William of Wales.

14. Speaking of airplanes, William didn’t have enough hours to pilot himself, which is why he decided to train as an air ambulance pilot. He worked for them for two years, making him the first heir to work like an ordinary person. After William donated his entire salary to charity.

15. The Duke of Cambridge turns out to be a big fan of surfing. He was quite often fond of it during his university years, and even at a bachelor party in 2011 he decided to surf with friends.

16. Usually avoiding scandals, in 2012 William sued a photographer who photographed Kate topless. These shots were published by many tabloids, including the French magazine Closer. A few years later, the court ruled in favor of the prince.

17. William has an invisible scar on his forehead, like Harry Potter. He got it as a child while playing golf – he was accidentally hit on the head with a club. He said in an interview a couple of years ago that he sometimes refers to it as his “Harry Potter scar” because “sometimes it glows”.

18. Another of the tastes of the birthday man’s preferences – during a trip to Pakistan, he told the journalist E! News that likes spicy food like curry but can’t stand extreme heat like in the countries where curry is most commonly served.

19. Once the prince admitted that in his youth he was in love with 90s supermodel Cindy Crawford.

20. After the birth of children, the prince decided to leave the service and take up state affairs, patronage, organization and charity. In recent years, the media have increasingly written that Elizabeth II will appoint him as her successor, and not her son Charles, who himself is already at a respectable age. But recently, Her Majesty dotted the “i” and announced that it was her eldest son who was the heir to the British throne. In the meantime, we can only enjoy watching the almost exemplary family of Prince William.