Prince William and Kate Middleton , livre ebook

Title Page

PRINCE WILLIAM
and
KATE MIDDLETON


By
Chris Peacock

Publisher Information

This electronic version published in 2011 by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com

This edited version, including layout, typography, additions to text, cover artwork and other unique factors is copyright Andrews UK 2010. No part of this digital publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without written permission of the copyright owner.

Copyright © Chris Peacock
Cover Design by Nick Tiseo

The opinions in this book are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher.

The right of Chris Peacock to be identified as author of this book has been asserted in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyrights Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All images used in this work are believed to be either in the public domain, or available for use under a creative commons license. Credit for images has been given where required. However if you are the rights owner of any images featured and have not received suitable credit, please contact the publisher for a correction.

Although extensively researched, this book is based on information sources and news articles from across the world. The author is happy to correct any factual inaccuracies or credit information sources if requested.
Acknowledgements

Thank you, as always, to everyone who has made this book possible - His Royal Highness Prince William and Kate Middleton, of course, but also my friends and family who have kept me sane during the long, arduous hours of research and writing.
I’d like to say a special thank you to my publisher, Andrews UK, who I believe are truly forward-thinking in their approach to publishing in the modern, digital age. If you have written a book, why not send it to them for consideration!
Other people who deserve a notable mention include Redonculous, ‘Kid’, Angel, Maximus Hobbs and Kiwi. Thank you all for being great.


Prince William
Image courtesy of Robert Payne



Kate Middleton
Image courtesy of Nick Warner



The Birth of a King

At three minutes past nine o’clock pm on the 21 st June 1982, William Arthur Philip Louis of the House of Windsor was born into the best known royal family in the world. His mother, Princess Diana endured a sixteen-hour labour to give birth to a healthy seven-pound one ounce baby. So was to begin the life of one of the most popular royals of modern times.
Not only did crowds gather outside St. Mary’s hospital in London, but also thousands of people clustered around Buckingham Palace to hear the announcement that a future King had been born. Interestingly, William was the first heir to the British throne ever to have been born in a hospital!
The next day, schools called special assemblies to announce the birth, and the British national anthem – God Save the Queen (as the ruling monarch was, and still is at the time of writing, Queen Elizabeth the Second) – was sung around the country.
The birth meant that William was second in line to the throne, behind his father, Prince Charles (Charles, Prince of Wales). In fact, William is the heir to the thrones of no less than sixteen independent states: The United Kingdom (of course), but also Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, The Solomon Islands and Tuvalu. The high proportion of Caribbean territories in this list is a hint to the expanse of the British Empire in times gone by.


Buckingham Palace

Many will know that royal families (and other ruling classes) across the world are often related. William, when crowned King, will be the first monarch since Queen Anne to be descended from Charles I (the British king who was executed after the English Civil War against Oliver Cromwell’s forces). This ancestry comes from his mother’s side – The Spencers (as in Lady Diana Spencer ) are also distantly related to several American presidents and British Prime Ministers.
William is even descended from Kind Harold (Harold Godwinson), the King who died (an arrow in the eye some say) at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Although the ruling houses of England have changed a number of times in the last thousand years or so, this ancient royal bloodline is traced right through to the modern day.