See Prince William Throughout the Years

Since his birth, Prince William has been second in line to the British throne. The son of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, and grandson of Queen Elizabeth, he's grown up acutely aware of the responsibility that awaits him. Following the death of his grandmother, he became the heir apparent, and the new Prince of Wales. Here, take a look back at Prince William's life—from his childhood spent at Highgrove House and Kensington Palace, through his teenage years at Eton, service in the Royal Air Force after his graduation from St Andrews, marriage to Kate Middleton, and life as a dad to Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.

1982

Prince Charles and Princess Diana introduced their newborn son, William Arthur Philip Louis, to the world outside the Lindo Wing at St Mary's Hospital on June 22, 1982, just one day after he was born.

1983

Prince William pictured as a baby at Kensington Palace.

1983

From that same photo session, here is the prince with his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.

1984

In the gardens at his home at Kensington Palace, the royal toddler wore an adorable pair of blue overalls.

1985

On his first day of nursery school, William carried his own sweater and thermos.

1986

As a child, Prince William had a Shetland pony at Highgrove House.

1987

Here, Prince William smiled ahead of his first day at Wetherby School, a pre-preparatory school in London.

1988

William in a coordinating outfit with his mother, the Princess of Wales, at a polo match in Windsor.

1988

William waved from the carriage procession during Trooping the Colour, the Queen's annual birthday parade.

1989

Prince William at a polo match in Windsor. (Many of the candid shots of the young prince throughout his childhood were on the sidelines of polo tournaments.)

1989

William accompanied his younger brother, Harry, to Harry's first day of school at Wetherby.

1990

Prince William clapped as he watched a polo match.

1991

Prince William undertook his first official royal engagement at age 8, accompanied by Princess Diana.

1992

William rocked sunglasses on the slopes during a ski vacation in Klosters, Switzerland.

1994

Prince William smiles his great-grandmother, the Queen Mother, on her 94th birthday.

1995

Prince William started at Eton in September 1995, becoming the first senior member of the royal family to attend the school.

1996

William and Harry held gifts given to them by members of the public at Sandringham on Christmas Day.

1997

Due to the death of his mother, Princess Diana, 1997 was a tragic year in Prince William's life. One image that will forever be ingrained in the public's memory is of Prince Philip, Prince William, Earl Spencer, Prince Harry, and Prince Charles walking behind Diana's casket during the funeral procession.

1998

Prince William attended Christmas Day services at Sandringham in 1998.

1999

Prince Charles and his sons posed for a photo outside their home at Highgrove.

2000

Prince William at Eton College, where he graduated in 2000.

2003

To celebrate his 21st birthday, William posed for a picture at St Andrews in Scotland. At university, William met Kate Middleton, and during their second year in school, the two became roommates. "We moved in together as friends because we were living together, we lived with a couple of others as well, and it just sort of blossomed from there really," William would later explain.

2004

The prince before he entered his final year of school at St. Andrews. That year, he was first pictured with Kate on a ski trip together in Switzerland.

2005

Prince William at his graduation ceremony at the University of St. Andrews.

2006

Prince William in uniform as an officer cadet at the Sovereign's Parade, as he attended his brother Prince Harry's graduation from Sandhurst Military Academy.

2007

Prince William in his Royal Air Force (RAF) uniform as Flying Officer William Wales, during a week he spent at RAF Cranwell, undertaking pre-training tests before he began to learn how to fly.

2008

Prince William became the 1,000th Knight of the Garter in 2008, part of the Order of the Garter, the senior and oldest British Order of Chivalry.

2009

Prince William, aka Flt Lt William Wales, studied maps as he prepared to fly the Griffin helicopter.

2010

Prince William and Kate Middleton announced their engagement! William proposed while the pair were vacationing in Kenya, using Princess Diana's ring ("my way of keeping [Diana] sort of close to it all," he told the press in their engagement interview).

2011

Prince William married Kate Middleton in a fairytale wedding, as millions of people around the world watched.

2011

The two, now the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, shared a kiss on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after their wedding ceremony.

2012

During the 2012 London Olympics, the Cambridges were in the stands—and they embraced following a British cyclist's win. This photo is undeniably one of their sweetest moments captured on camera.

2013

Just like his parents introduced him to the world on the steps of the Lindo Wing, William was photographed with Kate and their newborn son, George, soon after the new prince's birth.

2014

Prince William, Kate, and their eldest, Prince George, looked at butterflies in a photograph released to celebrate George's first birthday.

2015

In 2015, William became a dad of two as they welcomed Princess Charlotte into their family. Here, the Cambridges arrived at the Church of St Mary Magdalene on the Sandringham Estate for Charlotte's christening.

2016

Over the years, Kate and William go on numerous royal tours together. Here, they visit the Kaziranga National Park in Guwahati, India.

2017

Prince William worked with his wife, Kate, and brother, Harry, in a campaign called "Heads Together" to end the stigma surrounding mental health. Here, the trio joined Team Heads Together at a London Marathon Training Day.

2018

William stood by Harry's side at Harry's wedding to Meghan Markle.

2019

The Cambridges appeared on the Trooping the Colour balcony together for the first time as a family of five.

2020

As the world shut down for the COVID-19 pandemic, Prince William and his family appeared in a video outside their home in Norfolk, clapping for healthcare workers as part of a BBC special.

2021

One of Prince William's major recent initiatives was the Earthshot Prize, a global £50 million competition with the aim of finding 50 solutions across a decade to the world’s biggest environmental challenges. Here, he's pictured with Kate at the awards ceremony.

2022

The royals were back in full swing in 2022; here, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge stepped out in glamorous outfits for a reception in Jamaica during their royal tour of the region.

2022

The Cambridges were front and center during Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee weekend.

2022

Prince William looked like a proud dad as his kids began a new school in Windsor.

2022

Following the death of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, the newly-named Prince of Wales took in the floral tributes left by fans in honor of the Queen.

"My grandmother famously said that grief was the price we pay for love," William said of the Queen's death. "All of the sadness we will feel in the coming weeks will be testament to the love we felt for our extraordinary Queen."

2022

William was joined by Kate, his brother Prince Harry, and Harry's wife Meghan Markle to greet well-wishers in the wake of the Queen's death.

2022

Prince William walked in solemn procession next to his brother, Prince Harry, behind the coffin of their grandmother.

2022

Prince William stood vigil with his brother, Prince Harry, and their six cousins for their grandmother.

2022

Prince William and his father, the new king, at the Queen's funeral in September.

2022

During Christmas, William and his family walked to church at Sandringham together.

2023

William, president of the BAFTAs, had a glamorous night out with Kate at the 2023 BAFTAs.

2023

Prince William arrives to King Charles's coronation alongside Kate Middleton and their children.

2023

Prince William pays homage to his father, during King Charles's coronation.

2023

Prince William rode on horseback in the first Trooping of the Colour celebrating King Charles. In his role as Colonel of the Welsh Guards, he took the salute outside Buckingham Palace after carrying out The Colonel's Review at Horse Guards Parade.

2023

Afterwards, he joined the rest of his family on the Palace balcony to watch the flypast.

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