Happy Birthday Prince William!

Today, June 21, is the 29^th birthday of His Royal Highness, Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge. 


Here are some of his perky facts!

--He is left-handed.


--He was born on June 21, 1982 at St. Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, London.

--Since his birth in 1982, he is second in the line of succession to the British throne behind his father.

--His real name is William Arthur Philip Louis. For several days after his birth, he was known as baby Wales because his parents could not agree what to call him, his mother wanted to call him William but his father insisted the name Arthur, eventually Diana won and Arthur became the baby’s second name. His two other names are chosen to honour his paternal grandfather, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, and paternal great uncle, Lord Louis Mountbatten, the Earl of Burma whom Prince Charles referred as his dear grandpapa.

--He was baptized on August, 4, 1982 on the 84^th birthday of the late Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth (mother of the Queen) at the music room of Buckingham Palace by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

--His parents: HRH Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales and the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

--His paternal grandparents: Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II and HRH Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.

--His maternal grandparents: The late John Spencer, the 8^th Earl of Althorp and the Honourable Mrs. Frances Shand-Kydd (daughter of Lord Edmund Burke-Roche, the 4th Baron Fermoy).

--Brother: HRH Prince Harry (Henry Charles Albert David) born on September 23, 1984.

--Royal House: Windsor

--In 1983, he made history by being the first royal infant to travel in an official foreign tour when his mother insisted to the Queen to bring him to Australia and New Zealand.

--While still a young boy, he was nicknamed by his mother as Wombat.

--He inherited the physical features of his mother and that of the Spencers: Tall, Blonde hair, Sapphire (blue) eyes.

--He is the first future British heir to be educated at Eton College, the most prestigious and tough school for boys in England.

---An excellent tennis player like his late mother. The Prince is into football and polo games too.

--If the ancient rules of monarchy will be used as the basis of tracing bloodlines, he belonged more to the Royal House of Glucksburg-Sonderburg-Beck than to the House of Windsor. Glucksburg-Sonderburg-Beck is the Royal House where his grandfather, Prince Philip, descended on the male-line. This is the former royal house name of Greece and still in used today by the royal houses of Denmark and Norway.

--He referred Africa as his second home. He frequently visited this continent with his brother, Prince Harry and often spent a private holiday at Kenya. It was in Kenya where he reportedly proposed to Kate Middleton in October 2010. They also spent their honeymoon last May in Seychelles, another African island country with terrific beaches facing Indian Ocean.

--One of his favourite holiday destinations in the world aside from Africa, is Mustique, a breathtaking private island in the West Indies.

--When he becomes a King, he will be the first monarch to descend from Queen Anne, the last Stuart monarch because his bloodline will be traced from Diana whose father, the Earl Spencer, was a direct descendant of the Stuart monarchs. The Stuarts reigned ahead of the Hanovers (the bloodline of Prince Charles and the Queen) in the British throne. He will be known as King William V when he succeeds his father to the throne.

--He completed his BA degree in Geography at St. Andrews University, Fife, Scotland, in 2004.

--Like the future Kings before him, he joined the military service after he finished college. He began his military training at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, England in 2006. Like his brother, he became a member of the Household Cavalry as a reserved officer after he completed his military training. He also trained at the Royal Navy and Royal Air force. In 2008, he earned his wings at the Royal Air force and subsequently trained to become a search-and-rescue operation pilot where he remained in the service until today.

--In 2008, he became the 1008^th Knight of the Garter.

--In 2010 November, the official engagement between him and his longtime girlfriend, Kate Middleton, was announced by the Clarence House, the official London residence of his father, Prince Charles. He presented his fiancée with the oval shaped 18 carat Blue Sapphire ring surrounded with 14 diamonds which previously belonged to his late mother. They married on the 29^th of April, 2011 at Westminster Abbey. He was created by his grandmother as the Duke of Cambridge.

--Traditionally, British royals never carry cash, they never owned credit cards also, their finances are handled by the Master of the Household who get the budget from the Civil List, but this tradition might create tension in the new household of Prince William as his wife stubbornly insisted to handle their finances and all the shopping alone. Previously, it was reported that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will share the apartment of Prince Harry at Clarence House when they are in London, but recent report updates revealed that William expressed interest to make one of the vacant apartments at Kensington Palace as their official London residence. KP echoes wonderful childhood memories to Prince William, it was in this royal residence that he grew up with his brother and spent happy days with his late mother, Diana.

--This coming July 2011, he and his wife will take their first joint foreign trip to the state of California in the United States.