Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, KG, KT, ADC (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982) is a member of the British royal family. He is the elder son of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Diana, Princess of Wales, and since birth has been second in the line of succession to the British throne after his father.

In 2011, Prince William was made Duke of Cambridge by his mother Queen Elizabeth II and married Catherine Middleton. The couple have three children: Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. 

ABOUT WILLIAM

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, KG, KT, PC, ADC (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982) is a member of the British royal family. He is the elder son of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Diana, Princess of Wales. Since birth, he has been second in the line of succession to the British throne.

Born in St Mary's Hospital, London, William was educated at Wetherby School, Ludgrove School and Eton College. He spent parts of his gap year in Belize and Chile before earning a Scottish Master of Arts degree in geography at the University of St Andrews. William then trained at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst prior to serving with the Blues and Royals. In April 2008, William graduated from Royal Air Force College Cranwell, joining RAF Search and Rescue Force in early 2009. He served as a full-time pilot with the East Anglian Air Ambulance from July 2015 for two years.

The Duke performs official duties and engagements on behalf of the Queen. He holds patronage with over 30 charitable and military organisations, including the Tusk Trust, Centrepoint, and London's Air Ambulance Charity. He undertakes projects through The Royal Foundation, with his charity work revolving around mental health, conservation, and emergency workers. In December 2014, he founded the "United for Wildlife" initiative, which aims to reduce worldwide illegal wildlife trade. In April 2016, the Cambridges and Prince Harry initiated the mental health awareness campaign "Heads Together" to encourage people to open up about their mental health issues. In October 2020, William launched the Earthshot Prize, a £50 million initiative to incentivise environmental solutions over the next decade.

In 2011, William was made Duke of Cambridge preceding his marriage to Catherine Middleton. The couple have three children: Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis of Cambridge. 


DEBATE ON FUTURE OF MONARCHY

From 2019, the Monarchy has been under considerable media pressure, following the sex scandal befalling the Duke's uncle Prince Andrew. In 2022, this led to the Queen stripping the Duke of York of his HRH title and military awards, with Prince Williams support. With former Duke of Sussex leaving the country, the royals are quite stretched, with the commonwealth, especially Australia, once again considering independence.

The matter of a written constitution, as a fresh approach to a more just society, is also more buoyant, as is an overhaul of the honours system, that is allegedly being abused, especially with the KG given to former Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who many (1,000,000 million plus petition) regard as a war criminal.

ROYALS GALLERY 2018

SUCCESSION TO THE BRITISH THRONE

Succession to the British throne is determined by descent, sex (for people born before October 2011), legitimacy, and religion. Under common law, the Crown is inherited by a sovereign's children or by a childless sovereign's nearest collateral line. The Bill of Rights 1689 and the Act of Settlement 1701 restrict succession to the throne to the legitimate Protestant descendants of Sophia of Hanover that are in "communion with the Church of England". Spouses of Roman Catholics were disqualified from 1689 until the law was amended in 2015. Protestant descendants of those excluded for being Roman Catholics are eligible.

Queen Elizabeth II is the sovereign, and her heir apparent is her eldest son, Charles, Prince of Wales. Next in line after him is Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, the Prince of Wales's elder son. Third in line is Prince George, the eldest child of the Duke of Cambridge, followed by his sister, Princess Charlotte and younger brother, Prince Louis. Sixth in line is Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, the younger son of the Prince of Wales. Under the Perth Agreement, which came into effect in 2015, only the first six in line of succession require the sovereign's consent before they marry; without such consent, they and their children would be disqualified from succession.

The first four individuals in the line of succession who are over 21, and the sovereign's consort, may be appointed Counsellors of State. Counsellors of State perform some of the sovereign's duties in the United Kingdom while he or she is out of the country or temporarily incapacitated. Otherwise, individuals in the line of succession need not have specific legal or official roles.

The United Kingdom is one of the 16 Commonwealth realms. Each of those countries has the same person as monarch and the same order of succession. In 2011, the prime ministers of the realms agreed unanimously to adopt a common approach to amending the rules on the succession to their respective Crowns so that absolute primogeniture would apply for persons born after the date of the agreement, instead of male-preference primogeniture, and the ban on marriages to Roman Catholics would be lifted, but the monarch would still need to be in communion with the Church of England. After the necessary legislation had been enacted in accordance with each realm's constitution, the changes took effect on 26 March 2015.

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