Prince William Arthur Philip Louis of Wales has captured the place of his late mother, Princess Diana, in the hearts of the British people, and now may be the most popular royal in the world. The Prince was born June 21, 1982 at St. Mary's Hospital in Paddington to Prince Charles and Princess Diana. From early childhood, he was the cause of strife between his mother and the Palace when she insisted on taking him with herself and Prince Charles on an official visit to Australia. His mother was determined to take a hands-on approach to raising her children so they would grow up with the warmth and love that Prince Charles never knew as a child.

In 1985, the Prince was sent off to school for the first time, to Mrs. Mynor's Nursery School in London. He then proceeded to attend Wetherby School in Kensington, London from 1987 to 1990. Many of his following years were spent at Ludgrove School. It was while he was at Ludgrove that his parents decided to separate in 1992. As with most children whose parents separate, the period was not easy for William, who often felt protective toward his emotional mother. In 1995, the Prince enrolled in the elite Eton College, where many of Britain's finest leaders have been trained, though no British monarch had ever attended. After sitting his A-Levels in geography, biology, and art history, in which he earned an A, C, and B respectively, William took a gap year traveling around the world. His travels began in Belize, where he trained with the Welsh Guards, a regiment he is expected to join after his studies. He later spent three months in Chile with Raleigh International, volunteering in villages and teaching English to schoolchildren. Other parts of his gap year included an African safari, a visit to Mauritius, and work on an English dairy farm, which he was said to have enjoyed the most of all his experiences. In September 2001 William began his History of Art course at St. Andrews University, Scotland’s oldest institution of higher learning. In breaking with the tradition of attending Oxford or Cambridge, William said that he preferred St. Andrews’s small community feel and loved Scotland itself. Like his mother, William shows many signs of breaking tradition.

Breaking tradition, however, does not mean that William has a distant relationship from the Royal Family. It was Prince Charles, the "cold and distant" father, who helped William and his younger brother through the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, on August 31, 1997. It has also been reported that Prince William has such a close relationship with his grandfather, Prince Philip, that he was the one to insist that Philip walk with him behind his mother's coffin on the day of her funeral. Even so, Diana's death was a devastating blow, and people all over the world reached out to William in sympathy. Since her death, the Prince has clung to the Royal Family. Though they don't take William to amusement parks like his mother once did, William enjoys the outdoor life the royals are famous for. The Prince is quite a sportsman who loves shooting, skiing, tennis, soccer, rowing, and swimming. In fact, William is one of the top one hundred swimmers in Britain for his age group. Like his father, William is also a very good artist. These activities and the support of his family have helped William cope with the sudden death of a mother he was very close to.

In recent years the world has begun a love affair with the Prince that has only gotten stronger. People were touched and amazed at the strength and courage William showed at Princess Diana's funeral, and people all over the world have been very interested in any news on how the Prince is coping. For teenage girls, however, there is a bit more than just sympathy. William has become the latest teenage pinup boy, with photos splashed across British magazines. Even American publications, from YM to Ladies Home Journal have run features describing the Prince. William is said not to enojoy the attention very much, and tends to be shy in front of the camera. Since Diana's death, the press has tried to respect William's privacy, even in the face of more demand for news of him. The demand will be even greater as he grows older, becoming Prince of Wales and one day King William V. Yet the camera-shy boy has developed into a more media-savvy man, increasingly learning to cope with the press and even taking a leading role, as he and Prince Harry did during an interview following the death of the Queen Mother in 2002. It showed Prince William’s increasing understanding and comfortableness in his role as Britain’s future king.

On September 15, 1984, Princess Diana gave birth to her second son, the impish, redheaded Harry, more formally known as Prince Henry Charles Albert David of Wales, at St. Mary's Hospital in Paddington. Harry followed his brother's educational path, attending Wetherby School from 1989 to 1992 before moving on to Ludgrove School, where he spent 1992 to 1997. Harry will join William this year at Eton College in Windsor, despite repeating a year of school at Ludgrove. The Prince is said not to be fond of academic pursuits, but is an excellent athlete.

Like Prince William, the death of Princess Diana was an emotional blow to Prince Harry. It has been reported that the car accident that claimed his mother's life, which happened only a few weeks before his thirteenth birthday, has impacted Harry deeply. He can be bright and cheerful one day, and then quiet and withdrawn the next. This was one of the main factors in Prince Charles' decision to send Harry to Eton, where he could enjoy the security of living in the same house as his brother. Eton is also known for its efforts to protect the privacy of Prince William, expelling any student who speaks to the media about him. This can only be a comfort to Harry. His father, Prince Charles, has also made a special effort to help the boy, taking him to a World Cup soccer match and Spice Girls concert while touring South Africa. The efforts have seemingly worked: Prince Harry has emerged as an outgoing young man who is not only close to his father, but is also a more relaxed and playful complement to his brother’s seriousness. Like other younger royal sons, including most recently Prince Andrew, Harry is already becoming tabloid fodder. Occasional reports appear about his friendships with young British socialites appear, and in January 2002 St. James’s Palace admitted that the Prince had used marijuana and had visited a drug treatment center as punishment in the summer of 2001.

Prince Harry is an avid sportsman who, like his brother, enjoys the traditional royal sports of hunting and polo, at which he is said to be better than William. He is also known for being a daring skier. Like his brother, Harry is also becoming a pinup king, and is at times more popular in this respect than Prince William. Yet there is little sense of competition between the boys. While William serves as Harry’s protective older brother, Harry will increasingly fill a critical role as a major source of support for the future king.

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