Happy Birthday Your Royal Highness

When, at 21:03 BST on this day in 1982, Prince William of Wales was born - at St Mary's Hospital in London's tony Paddington district, 16 hours after Princess Diana had first been admitted there - he became the first heir to the throne ever to be born in a hospital. Predictably enough, that was also one of the first days* I begged to stay home from school so I could remain glued to the television and await the news that he'd been born; it was, after all, only a Monday. Yes folks, I was always like this, a future courtier even at the age of twelve...

Originally weighing in at a healthy 7 pounds one and one half ounces, from his first public appearance as a robust baby on a blanket in Australia, William has grown into a poised media darling whose charisma must be measured in megawatts; blending his mother's golden charm with his father's regal bearing, William is perfectly suited to the media age, and therefore a very modern royal indeed.

Currently poised to marry Kate Middleton, yet still the world's most eligible bachelor, Prince William is currently undergoing various courses of military training; having first graduated out of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in December 2006 and having been awarded his RAF wings from his own father's hand in April 2008, he then served at Britannia Royal Naval College, during which time he was deployed aboard the HMS Iron Duke in the Caribbean. It was during his tenure there that the vessel seized another which was engaged in smuggling cocaine, making a highly publicized drugs bust worth in excess of £40 million**.

He is currently in training as a helicopter pilot with the Search and Rescue Force at RAF Shawbury and RAF Valley while keeping the world on tenterhooks in regards to his marital intentions...

*The other was, predictably, the birth of Prince Harry in September 1984; when Princess Beatrice was born, in August 1988, I was already in university and it was summer besides, while Princess Eugenie was born in March 1990 when I just called in sick to work.
**In other words, enough to keep his step-brother Tom Parker-Bowles going for nearly a month!
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