royal birthday: Prince William
Prince Willliam turns twenty-two today, his final birthday before completing his studies after which he will be fair game to the preying camera lenses and sharpened pencils of the british press. a palace spokesman said that the prince shall spend his birthday privately, with some friends.«Prince William Arthur Philip Louis was born on 21 june 1982 at st mary's hospital, paddington, in london. he was christened by the archbishop of canterbury at buckingham palace.
Prince William began his education at mrs mynor's nursery school in west london in september 1985, aged 3. in January 1987, william was enrolled at wetherby school, also in london, and was a pupil there until July 1990. he spent five years at ludgrove school from september 1990 until July 1995, and then attended eton college, windsor, where he studied geography, biology and history of art at A Level after sitting 12 GCSEs.
after passing his A Levels, Prince William took a gap year, spending time on manœuvres 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.
Prince William is currently at the university of st andrews, scotland, where he is studying geography, having switched from history of art.
Prince William is a keen sportsman and prefers football, rugby, tennis, swimming and water polo. at ludgrove, he was rugby and hockey team captain and represented the school at cross-country running. william is also a crack clay pigeon shooter, winning the school's prize in 1994. he acted in school plays, and enjoys reading and film-going.
Prince William's first public appearance was on a visit to wales on st david's day (1 march), at a service at llandaff cathedral, aged 8. in may 1995, Prince William accompanied his mother, father and brother to the 50th anniversary of VE (victory in europe) commemorations in hyde park; he also accompanied his family to the VJ (victory in japan) Day 50th anniversary commemorations in front of buckingham palace and in the mall in August 1995.
he attended his mother's funeral at westminster abbey on 6 september 1997. in the same year he made another official appearance at westminster abbey, when he attended the service of thanksgiving to mark the Golden Wedding of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh in november 1997. in 2002, he attended engagements in london to mark the Golden Jubilee of his grandmother, The Queen.
he undertakes no official engagements on his own, but he has accompanied his father on several official visits around the uk.»
note: also "sharing" his birthday torday: juliette lewis, los angeles, california, actress (1973), nicole kidman, honolulu, hawaii, actress (1967), benazir bhutto, first female leader of a moslem nation (pakistan) (1953), jean paul sartre, existentialist/writer (nobel prize, 1964; declined) (1905), martha washington, the very first, first lady (1789-97) (1732), alexander pope, english poet (rape of the lock) (1688).
