His Royal Highness Prince William of Wales (William Arthur Philip Louis Mountbatten-Windsor) (born June 21, 1982) is a member of the British Royal Family, a grandson of Queen Elizabeth II. Prince William is second in the line of succession to the British throne.

Prince William is expected to ascend the throne of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland at some point in the future, but only when both The Queen and The Prince of Wales are deceased.

Prince William was born on June 21, 1982 at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, West London. His father is His Royal Highness Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. His mother is the late Diana, Princess of Wales, the former wife of the Prince of Wales who died in 1997. He has a younger brother, HRH Prince Harry. As a grandchild of the British monarch in the male line, he was styled His Royal Highness Prince William of Wales.

Prince William attended the Mrs Jane Mynors' nursery school and the pre-prep Wetherby School both in West London. He later attended Ludgrove School in Berkshire. William was the first British prince to attend a primary school. He later attended the prestigious Eton College in Windsor. He studied geography, biology and history of art at A-level.

After completing his A-levels, Prince William chose to attend the University of St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. He embarked on a degree course in Arts History.

On 31 August 1997 Prince William's mother, Diana, Princess of Wales was killed in a car accident in Paris, France. Her death came days after she spent a holiday in Southern France with both Prince William and Prince Harry. Both princes were staying with the Queen at Balmoral Castle at the time and were woken from their sleep by their father, Charles, to be told the tragic news.

At Diana's funeral, Prince William accompanied his father and brother and his grandfather, Prince Philip, and his uncle, the Earl Spencer to walk behind Diana's funeral cortege from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey. Both William and Harry were praised for their strength shown on that day.

Like many British teenagers, Prince William choose to take a gap year after finishing Eton College. He took part in British Army training in Belize. He spent the final stage of his gap year in southern Chile as a volunteer with Raleigh International. Pictures of the prince cleaning a toilet were broadcast around the world.

Pictures were also broadcast worldwide of the young prince, along with his father Prince Charles learning to drive a Humvee under the supervision of military officers at West Point Military Academy.

As the eldest son of the Prince of Wales, it is expected that William will ascend the throne at some point in the future.  The Queen is known to spend time with William, tutoring him on his future role.

At the present, however, Prince William is relatively free of royal responsibility. He currently does not carry out official engagements on behalf of the Queen. He also announced his intention not to use the style His Royal Highness while at university, however this is still his official style as reported in the Court Circular.