William VI of the United Kingdom
| William VI | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Duke of Hanover | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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King of the British and the other Commonwealth Realms
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| Reign | 15 January, 1997 - 13 October, 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coronation | 20 March, 1997 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Predecessor | Charles III | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Successor | Alexandra | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Ministers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | William Edward Francis Albert Charles 17 December 1950 Balmoral Castle, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Connie Nielsen (1989 - 1993, engaged) Märtha Louise of Norway (m. 1995) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| House | Hanover | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Father | Charles III | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mother | Lauren Bacall | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Religion | Protestant | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Military service | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Years of service | 1979-1996 (active service) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rank | Brigadier | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Battles/wars | The Troubles Falklands War Multinational Force in Lebanon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
William VI (William Edward Francis Albert Charles; born 17 December 1950) was King of the British from 1997 to 2017. In 1995, he married the Norwegian princess Märtha Louise with whom he has four children: Alexandra, Richard, Alistair, and Mary. Despite his constitutional status, as King, he was instrumental in promoting continued relations between the United Kingdom and its allies in Asia through his respective state visits to the continent, and was particularly responsible for the passing of the Succession to the Crown Act 1997, which saw a fundamental change in the country's succession law. The latter half of his reign was marked by the deaths of the former King Charles III and Queen Lauren in the year 2011 and 2014 respectively.
Following a sudden health crisis and upon the recommendation of the then Prime Minister, an ageing William abdicated the throne in favour of his daughter who ascended to the throne as Queen Alexandra while styling himself as Duke of Hanover, becoming the third British monarch to do so after his father, King Charles III and the 19th-century Queen Victoria, around a decade and 180 years ago respectively. Nevertheless, since his abdication, the former king has been furthering his involvement, notably in philanthropy and other royal duties.
As a result of his mother's Jewish identity, William is recognised as being the first Jewish monarch of the United Kingdom through the Jewish matrilineal descent.
Early Life
William was born on December 17th 1950 to the then Charles, Prince of Wales and Lauren, Princess of Wales, formerly known as Lauren Bacall, during the reign of his grandfather, King Edward VII. His godparents, in a manner previously unknown to that of his predecessors, consisted of both British and American nationals, whilst also including both members of royalty and non-royalty, such as his great-uncle and aunt, Prince Frederick, Duke of Clarence and Avondale and Princess Astrid of Sweden, then British Prime Minister, Clement Attlee, and American Hollywood figures, actor, Frank Sinatra, and actress, Katharine Hepburn.
Prince of the Welsh
Around the time when William was only a year old, the death of his grandfather, King Edward VII led to his father becoming the new sovereign as Charles the Third. At the same time, as the new heir apparent, William was created Duke of Cornwall on July 7th by the former. Furthermore, following his father's ascension to the throne, the family of three subsequently moved from their previous residence at Edinburgh Castle to the central residence of Buckingham Palace in London.
Mirroring that of his own father's upbringing, William's upbringing in Buckingham Palace was reportedly said to had been somewhat restrictive in the early years, as a consequence of fringe rumours espousing harmful plots targeting the royal family. Nevertheless, the prince was able to benefit from both of his parents' much modern and liberal parenting style, with his father in particular emphasising qualities of "individuality, self-dependent, and survivability" in the young prince, while his mother generally added onto the efforts of William's father in "liberalising" the young Prince of the Welsh.
The American Prince
As his parents had previously been involved in the Hollywood industry as actors and actresses themselves, William also grew up with a firm passion for American movies and films, an interest helped by his parents' convenient associations with various Hollywood celebrities. At the same time, he also became fond of locally-made British films aswell, with the famed English actress, Audrey Hepburn, being a personal favourite, and later a close friend of his.
Katharine Hepburn
In particular, due to his parents' close association to the American actress, Katharine Hepburn, whom had consistently been a close friend of the royal couple, and also the prince's own godmother, William would also occasionally spend some time living under the actress's care at her family residence in Fenwick, Connecticut. Later on, in his memoirs, William himself described his time of living in Hepburn's family home as a "wholly wild, and fascinating experience". He also generally described the actress in a wholly positive light, having written in one instance, "While there were some minor, and understandable blunders from her, I could feel that we generally appreciated and cared for one another". Moreover, when living at the actress's Connecticut family home, William was said to had generally fancied "dipping his toes every morning on the shores of the cold water", whilst also having much interest in sports such as golf and tennis, an interest made convenient with the presence of nearby golf courses and alike.
Interestingly, the supposed state of their "mother and son" relationship proved quick to gain a sizable degree of notoriety among the local community, so much so that William was initially mistaken to be an alleged secret lovechild between Hepburn and her known romantic partner at the time, the actor, Spencer Tracy, although these were quickly refuted by Hepburn's own family members, whom were already aware of the royal family's connections to the actress. Nevertheless, when the two were mostly apart, both William and Hepburn maintained their lifelong friendship through the extensive use of telephones, and to a certain extent, an exchange of gifts, particularly during Christmas or their own respective birthday celebrations.
Furthermore, during the period between 1968 to 1970, William once more lived together for a while with Hepburn, with the latter acting as the prince's guardian when he chose to study at the local Columbia University in New York, during which, he briefly crossed paths with his second cousin, Princess Hedy, in his final year. At the age of twenty, he ultimately graduated from the university in the year 1970, albeit under the assumed name of George Hunter, with a bachelor's degree in International Relations.
Post-University Years
Immediately following his graduation from university, William, as expected of an heir to the British throne, began to officially undertake royal duties on his father's behalf. On December 1970, he privately met with the President of Yugoslavia, Josip Broz Tito, at his private estate at the Brijuni islands. Reportedly, like his own father, William himself enjoyed a mutual friendship with the Yugoslav leader, whom William was said to had wholly admired for the latter's success in stabilising ethnic relations within the federation, along with the Yugoslav strongman's own liberal approach to foreign issues.
Reign
Upon his father's abdication on January 1997, William automatically ascended to the throne as King William VI. Despite his longstanding ceremonial status, William, in a manner similar to that of his father and predecessor, King Charles III, also partook to some degree in the country's political affairs whilst adhering to his position as a constitutional monarch.
His first notable achievement upon becoming king was the passing of the Succession to the Crown Act 1997, which occurred following an agreement at a meeting among Commonwealth leaders to amend the pre-existing succession laws, particularly concerning the initial male-preference primogeniture system, which was subsequently replaced with that of an absolute primogeniture instead. The change in the succession laws, which had arisen following personal concerns over the possibility of the then heir presumptive, Princess Alexandra being replaced as heir by a subsequent younger brother was initially championed by the then Queen Mother Lauren whom, with the support of William himself was able to successfully pressure the then Prime Minister John Major and the other Commonwealth leaders into a unanimous agreement to amend the pre-existing succession laws, which had initially run under a male-preference primogeniture system. On May 11th that year, soon after Parliament had passed the Succession to the Crown Act 1997, William himself notably declared, "A Commonwealth of the 20th and 21st centuries must never be one of an oppressive patriarchal nature, let alone one that denies the women of today an equal opportunity, whether by legal or illegal means".
On January 1998, William notably became the first high-ranking British citizen to visit the Islamic Republic of Iran where in a private meeting in the capital city of Tehran, the King met with the Iranian Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. He also met the Chinese President, Jiang Zemin later that February, followed by a subsequent visit to Taiwan on the same month. His visit to both countries, whilst receiving great attention from international commentators was also seen as a symbolic diplomatic gesture due to the fact that a year prior, the United Kingdom had ceded the territory of Hong Kong to China itself.
Abdication
During the final year of his reign, despite already being sixty seven years of age, William was consistently described as being a "generally healthy, and well-conditioned man", as he was notably credited for almost regularly playing a game of polo with the palace staff and his close associates during his free time, leading him to be known as the Polo King among his close circles. However, on October 6th, having just went back to his chambers alongside his wife, the King unexpectedly collapsed onto his bed while the latter had gone inside the chambers' bathroom. Around a minute later, royal doctors were immediately summoned following signs of a weakened pulse, leading him to be transferred instead to a special room for an operation. At the same time, by his own wife's insistence, both the British and Pakistani governments agreed to preserve details of his operation, as to not jeopardise his daughter's then ongoing state visit to the Pakistan itself. Following an initially successful operation, he was declared to be in a "mildly stable" condition but soon after, subsequent operations were also conducted which lasted until just hours before his daughter Alexandra's return from her state visit, during which he was declared to had fully recovered from his illness, which was subsequently recorded as a stroke, albeit privately.
In light of the incident, William began seriously contemplating in an abdication, during which he made it known to the then Prime Minister Theresa May, whom he had specifically invited to Buckingham Palace for the matter. Discussions between the two would continue until December 10th when in a coordinated manner, William first declared his abdication at 10:30 AM in a BBC broadcast from Buckingham Palace before an Act of Parliament was granted royal assent by the King himself, thereby effectively formalising his abdication. In his abdication speech, William chose not to publicly disclose the details of his illness leading to his abdication, having instead chosen to cite "ill-health and inability to sustain the continuation of royal duties" as his primary reasons for abdicating. He subsequently attended the coronation of his daughter and successor, Queen Alexandra whom later created the former king Duke of Hanover in light of his abdication.
Post-Abdication
Following his abdication, William promptly took an initial period of rest for approximately five months before returning to his royal duties, now as a royal duke, albeit on a periodical basis. On May 2018, he embarked on a second state visit to China, the first of which since his abdication, during which he reassured Chinese premier Xi Jinping of a sustained bilateral relationship between the two countries. On October of the same year, in an official broadcast from his residence of Buckingham Palace, William called for the Saudi ruler, King Salman of Saudi Arabia to reprimand his officials believed to be involved in the attempted kidnapping of his daughter and successor, Queen Alexandra. While there had been no immediate response from the Saudi government, the broadcast itself was largely praised by the British public, though a minority of critics labelled the broadcast as an overstepping of the former King's royal duties.
Marriage
As William's parents had chosen a rather informal and morganatic approach to marriage, prospects of the young William in exemplifying his parents were largely encouraged. Consequently, William frequently indulged himself in events concerning the country's nobility and celebrity circles. Rumours of his alleged relationships with several prominent women became a common theme for local tabloids, but at the same time, neither were officially confirmed. However, from 1979 to 1985, the prince was in a lengthy relationship with Austrian-American actress Sybil Danning. The couple later peacefully separated over issues concerning work and residence. Nevertheless, Danning herself would later attend his own coronation in 1997.
On February 5th 1989, the royal palace announced the surprise engagement between William and a young Danish actress by the name of Connie Nielsen. Following the announcement, Nielsen and William began to appear together in public, with Nielsen herself frequently accompanying the prince on both his local and state visits. Three years later, the couple officially broke off their engagement, albeit in a peaceful manner. Regardless, both William and Nielsen remained close partners in the aftermath of their separation, with Nielsen herself being made a viscountess on the same year, alongside a British citizenship before subsequently marrying William's brother of the same name three years later. At the same time, the end of their engagement raised concerns over the question of William's successor. Compounding this was William's own age, in which he was already in his 40's.
In the months following his separation, William was first introduced to the Norwegian princess Märtha Louise, who is almost 20 years his junior during a state visit to Norway. Throughout the following months, the two decided to pursue a relationship, albeit in a private manner before they were officially wed in 1995. Though their marriage was partially received with despair as it was hoped that William was to marry a commoner, the wedding was greatly received and publicised by both the British and Norwegian media. After only a few months into their marriage, their first child, the current Queen Alexandra was born. Through their respective ancestors, William and Märtha Louise are distant cousins as Märtha Louise's grandmother was the sister of Astrid who had in turn, married William's great uncle Frederick, the Duke of Clarence of Avondale. Furthermore, the similarities in their respective backgrounds were also extensively noted, as both William and Märtha Louise had both been royals born from a royal father and a commoner mother, though unlike the latter's case, William's own mother had been that of a starkly different religion and nationality while Märtha Louise's mother, Queen Sonja had strictly been of both Norwegian birth and of the Protestant faith.
Despite the glaring age difference, the couple enjoyed a well-built marriage in which throughout the succeeding years, they received the birth of their twin sons, Richard and Alistair and another daughter, named Mary.
Personal Information
Titles & Honours
- 17 December 1950 - 7 July 1951 His Royal Highness Prince William of Cambridge
- 7 July 1951 - 22 July 1951 His Royal Highness The Duke of Cornwall
- 22 July 1951 - 15 January 1997 His Royal Highness The Prince of the Welsh
- 15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017 His Majesty The King of the British
- 13 October 2017 - 22 December 2017 His Royal Highness Prince William
- 22 December 2017 - Present His Royal Highness The Duke of Hanover
Honours
National & Commonwealth
United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Most Noble Order of the Garter- United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Royal Family Order of King William V
- United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Royal Guelphic Order
- United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Order of St. George
- United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle
- United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick
- United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath
- United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George
- United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Order of the British Empire
- United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Distinguished Service Order
- United Kingdom - Sovereign of the Williamite Cross
Canada - Sovereign of the Order of Canada
Australia - Sovereign of the Order of Australia
New Zealand - Sovereign of the Order of New Zealand
Barbados - Sovereign of the Order of Barbados
Saint Lucia - Sovereign of the Order of St Lucia
Solomon Islands - Sovereign of the Order of Solomon Islands
Belize - Sovereign of the Order of Belize
Antigua and Barbuda - Sovereign of the Order of Antigua and Barbuda
St Christopher and Nevis - Sovereign of the Order of St Christopher and Nevis
Grenada - Sovereign of the Order of Grenada
Tuvalu - Sovereign of the Order of Tuvalu
Puerto Rico - Sovereign of the Order of Puerto Rico
Foreign
Spain - Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece
Norway - Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of St Olav- Norway - Recipient of the Medal of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of King Olav V
- Norway - Recipient of the Royal House Centenary Medal
- Norway - Recipient of the King Harald V Silver Jubilee Medal
Sweden - Member of the Royal Order of the Seraphim- Sweden - Commander Grand Cross - of the Royal Order of the Sword
Denmark - Knight of the Order of the Elephant- Denmark - Grand Commander of the Order of the Dannebrog
Germany - Grand Cross Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Japan - Collar and Grand Order of the Order of the Chrysanthemum- Japan - Golden Medal of Merit Japanese Red Cross
- Japan - Golden Medal of Honorary Member of Japanese Red Cross
France - Grand Cross of the National Order of the Legion of Honour
Malaysia - Honorary Recipient of the Order of the Crown of the Realm
China - Recipient of the Order of Friendship
Republic of China - Recipient of the Order of Brilliant Jade
Military Appointments
United Kingdom
3 June 1979 - 28 May 1980: Officer Cadet, Royal Navy
28 May 1980 - 25 June 1982: Midshipman, Royal Navy
25 June 1982 - 11 January 1984: Lieutenant, Royal Navy
11 January 1984 - 5 May 1985: Lieutenant Commander, Royal Navy
5 May 1985 - 20 September 1990: Captain, Royal Navy
20 September 1990 - 15 January 1997: Commodore, Royal Navy
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Lord High Admiral, Royal Navy
13 October 2017 - Present: Admiral of the Fleet, Royal Navy
25 June 1982 - 3 June 1986: Colonel, British Army
3 June 1986 - 12 November 1990: Brigadier, British Army
3 June 1986 - 15 January 1997: Major General, British Army
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the British Armed Forces
13 October 2017 - Present: Field Marshal, British Army
5 June 1986 - 15 January 1997: Air Marshal, Royal Air Force
15 January 1997 - Present: Marshal of the Royal Air Force
Canada
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Army
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Canadian Navy
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Canadian Air Force
Australia
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Australian Army
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Australian Navy
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Australian Air Force
New Zealand
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the New Zealand Army
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Royal New Zealand Navy
15 January 1997 - 13 October 2017: Commander-in-Chief of the Royal New Zealand Air Force
Ancestry
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