Prince William turns 19 today after an action-packed year in which he has broadened his horizons in every way. And despite the fact that he had to forfeit his coming-of-age celebrations last year to cram for A level examinations, this year’s birthday looks set to be a surprisingly low key affair. According to St James’s Palace, Wills will be spending the day “quietly” at Highgrove with a few close friends.
His father, Prince Charles, was on hand to congratulate the birthday boy first thing this morning, before heading off on official engagements in Glasgow, but brother Harry is away at school.
William, who is due to start a course in History of Art at the Scottish university of St Andrews in September, has only recently returned to the UK after completing a three-and-a-half-month trip to Africa as part of his gap year.
With his A levels completed – he gained an A in Geography, B in History of Art, and a C grade in Biology – the teenager embarked upon an exciting year of adventure travel and work experience. He was in Belize with the Welsh Guards when his A level results came through by e-mail, and spent time on Rodriques, an Indian Ocean island 400 miles east of Mauritius, as part of a Royal Geographical Society research programme before starting the central project of his year out – a Raleigh International expedition in Chile.
There, the young royal mucked in with other expedition members, sharing chores such as scrubbing floors and chopping logs – the picture that went round the world was him cleaning a loo – and helping entertain some of the local children. In January and February it was more hands-on labour for Wills when, in January and February, before the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, he helped out at a dairy farm in England’s West Country.
After a jam-packed 12 months, William plans to spent the rest of the summer winding down his gap year, before embarking on life as a student in the autumn.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
